Ever feel like you’ve been handed “the rough end of the stick” in life?… Let’s be honest, we’ve all felt that way at some point or another! And unless people are going to trivialise human experience, we have to admit that it’s quite understandable for us to feel that way at times, given the very real difficulty and pain that our circumstances can bring.
As people who believe in God, and that He is Lord of all things, this creates some tension for us, since that would make him ultimately culpable for our trials. And the Bible doesn’t let God “off the hook” at this point. The Psalm writer says:
For you, God, tested us;
Psalm 66:10-12b
you refined us like silver.
You brought us into prison
and laid burdens on our backs.
You let people ride over our heads;
we went through fire and water,…
Yet we don’t go through any trial on our own – God our Good Shepherd goes through it with us. He endured the cross for our sake – that’s how much He loves us!
He also sustains and carries us in His great grace – “He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot – there we rejoiced in him”; and “He brought us into a place of abundance.” (Ps 66:6,12c)
We can trust God, lean on Him in faith, and call on Him for help, in the hardest circumstances. He will never leave us, and He will bring us into a place of abundance. We will again rejoice in Him!
Grace and peace, Jonathan