I know that You can do anything and no plan of Yours can be thwarted. Job 42:2 (HCSB)
A friend of mine was deeply hurting. I’m talking gut-wrenching hurt from a tremendous loss. We were texting back and forth but honestly, I was slow to respond because I wanted to pray. This was hard. How do you even respond to such pain?
In my response I said “I am not sure why God allowed this.” Later, I heard Satan say “Why did you say that? You are just going to drive her farther from God. How do you know how she feels about that?”
At first, my reaction was to listen to that voice and I started to spiral into a “What have I done?” scenario. But then, I slowed my thoughts and prayed. And as I began to process my response I wondered. Would I want to serve a God who was not in complete control? If God did not have authority over everything, what would be the point?
We want everything to turn out just the way we want. I know I do. I don’t like the pain, death, bad things that happen. It makes my heart hurt. As I ponder and pray through all of this, I figure I have two choices. I can believe God is in control or I can believe that he’s not. This choice then becomes about who I believe God is.
Do I believe that Satan will do everything he can to turn us from trusting God? Yes.
Do I believe that God allows these things? Yes.
Do I always understand why? No.
Do I believe that in spite of all that my eyes see that he loves us and that his plan is bigger and better than I can comprehend? Yes.
Jesus told us in the Bible that we were going to have bad days, hard days....days like he had. We shouldn’t be surprised by what’s happening. What we should do is hold on to our belief in a God that has not relinquished his authority on this world. We need to “see” with our faith, not just our eyes.
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1 (NIV)