from JB..."Everything's Ok!"

“It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young. Let him sit alone in silence, for the Lord has laid it on him. Let him bury his face in the dust – there may yet be hope.”

Lamentations 3:27-29

What do you do when you’re down and out, when life’s trials keep grinding away at you till it feels like there’s nothing left and you’re drained to the point of saying “I just can’t take it anymore”. Then “more” just keeps on coming anyway – and it seems like God either isn’t listening or isn’t there? As Christians we are told to “walk by faith and not by sight.” (Hebrews 11) From personal experience, however, I would offer that what at first seems fine “in theory”, can later translate into something totally different in practice. When adversity gets persistent and personal, walking by faith can be tough.

Our family experienced a “strong dose of the tough times” during 2005. Between many unexpected, intermittent trips to the hospital, losing a good paying job of 30 years, and dealing with ongoing, aggravating illnesses – including one family member having a stroke, and some equally intense legal issues - saying it was a “hard year” for us is a gross understatement. There were, literally, multiple, severe crises that arose every single month. At one point I can remember thinking and then saying out loud: “You know, having to deal with problems is one thing – but feeling like “God’s been using us as speed bag” is a totally different matter. (A speed bag is a piece of training equipment used by boxers to refine rapid punching skill.) I also remember finally reaching a point of being so totally angry and frustrated I shouted out loud, “Enough God, ENOUGH!”

At the time though, God in His infinite wisdom must have decided enough wasn’t yet enough. The trials continued - and at probably the lowest point, Dave, our daughter’s 25 year old fiancée died suddenly, unexpectedly! It was 3 months before their wedding. We found out later, that his death was instantaneous and mostly likely caused by injuries from a previous car accident. This was a disheartening blow to everyone in our family, and was by far, some of the worst pain ever. How do you find comfort in the fact that one minute, even though there have been struggles, the future still looks hopeful – and then in an instant, all hope is gone, replaced by super intense hurt? In these times prayer and compassion are indispensable – and we are so thankful for the response from our family in Christ –outside and inside the walls of our house.

In tough times like these though, only God can truly heal. No matter how mature the believer, hard times – this side of heaven - are inevitable. Being a Christian and being saved doesn’t guarantee immunity from adversity. What it does guarantee though is the hope and promise that trials endured will have been endured for a reason. For us, even through all of our pain, we “got it”! No matter how bad it got or how bad it ever gets, because we accepted Christ, God is never out to destroy us. He uses even the absolute worst circumstances for our good and His glory - right where we’re at. Have you gone through your own trials lately? If you have, thank God for refining you into His “silver” – but also know that silver can only be refined by fire and that only He knows exactly when it must stop.

When is silver fully refined? It is finished when the refiner sees his reflection in the molten metal, not enough heat and it’s still impure, too much and it’s ruined. Only God knows when “enough is enough”. For others to see God’s image in you, affliction is sometimes necessary. Everything will be ok at the end. If it isn’t ok….it isn’t the end!