Difficult days can be good days

4 January 2019

Difficult days can be good days
1 Peter 4:12 says
"Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you."
When the chips are down and nothing we touch appears to go right, it is difficult to think that God is anywhere around and if we feel He is, that He cares. We're tempted to think, 'If God loves us so much, why has this happened to me?"

Let's look at The Message version of this verse:
"When life gets difficult - don't jump to the conclusion that God isn't on the job."
I much prefer TheMessage version because it says it as it is. We are tempted to think that He doesn't love us; that He has left us when we need Him the most etc. etc.
God will never leaves us. Hebrews 13:5. He is committed to us and cares so much. However, at times we have to go through some things so that He can see if we can handle stressful times. If we can't what is the point in Him putting us in a place if we're going to fall at the first hurdle.
No, when we're going through difficult times, He is right beside us.

In Isaiah 41:10, we read:
"Fear not for I am with you. Be not dismayed for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My
righteous right hand."
You may be thinking that 'it is all right for me to say this, he doesn't know what I'm going through'. And yes, that is true, I don't know what you're going through anymore than you know what I've been through. We all have bad times that floor us. However, we have a choice. One is to wallow in the pain and let it completely disable us, or we can rise above it by calling out to God and asking Him to get us through this bad time.
Bad times can be turned into good times. The glass is either half full or half empty. It's just the way we look at things.
If you throw yourself on God's mercy, He will meet you where you are, take your hand and walk you through these difficult times. The water may be wide but you can cross over it, with His help.
And by the way, He loves you amazingly!