Tuesday, May 26, 2015

God is good. No matter what.

Some people have all the luck. Doesn't it seem that way? That the rain is falling heavily on you and you're getting more than your fair share of stress and strife?
We all have problems. The complaints of some people might frustrate those who are going through, by objective comparison, more difficult stressors.
But what's important to remember is that: It's not what you're going through, it's how you handle it.

My car broke down yesterday, and in attempts to fix it, though I know better than to try, we broke a bolt on the wrong tire! The shame!
Someone said I was keeping a very positive attitude about it. And I took that as a strong affirmation.
Bad things happen all the time. From silly frustrations that compound until you can't take it anymore, to financial stress, to loss and death.
We can let it get us down or we can remember that God is good.

If you've read through the Law for several chapters or more, you've probably come to the conclusion that the Israelites were not very clever people. The repetition throughout the Law makes it clear that they weren't a people who got things on the first run through.
But there were times in history that they forgot to repeat to themselves His promises, His miracles, His provisions, and His Law. During those times, Israel and Judah fell into sinful and abhorrent ways. But when the books of the Law were rediscovered, when the Lord's edicts and miracles were remembered, His people returned to him.

There's this stress test where you answer questions like "have your work conditions changed" or "have you had an addition to your family". Normal stress levels should register a score of 200-400. Much higher than that and there's some pretty big problems. 600-800 normally results in hospitalization. Or so I'm told. Missionaries generally exist in that range of 600-800. I scored 500. I know a missionary who scored a solid 800.
(This test is similar but with a lower number scale)  
But there's a fallacy in this test: It's not what you're going through, it's how you handle it.

You know those scenes in movies where something bad happens and the character says "Could things possibly be worse?" and then the heavens open in a torrential downpour. And if they're bold enough to ask the question again, they get struck by lightening?
Even if you're on the side of the road in a broken car in the middle of nowhere on the way to your dad's funeral and its pouring rain and your credit cards are unavailable because of identity theft and your bank account is empty and a cop pulls up and apparently there was a ticket you forgot about and your court date's passed and so you get arrested....  God is still good.
If He hadn't proved that enough by sending His Son to die for our sins, He proved it when He gave Sarah a son, when He saved Israel from Egypt, when He saved Paul from a venomous snake bite. He proved it in my life when He gave me an amazing husband, when He gave me the sweetest son, and everyday He adds a supporter to our team.

There was a woman who worked for PBT in PNG. I met her on my internship and fell in love with her with a swiftness that still astounds me. I had spent all of three hours with her in totality, but she was such an amazing woman that three hours is all it really took for that to be evident and love her for it. She went to Australia before we had left the country and soon after we returned to the States we got the word that she didn't have long to live. I wrote on my mirror in my dorm room, "If He heals her, God is good. If He doesn't, God is good." I prayed and prayed, but she passed on shortly thereafter. I will never get to know the depths or complexities of this amazing woman's awesomeness on this side of life, but God is still good, and the ebb and flows of life don't change that. Because that's all it really is. Each of our struggles. While they feel so personal, they're just the ebb and flows of life.

The Lord said, "For I know the plans I have for you plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." He said this to Jeremiah, not when he was sitting pretty in all those great plans the Lord had, but when they had been exiled to Babylon. This verse was preceded with God telling them to go ahead and settle down because they weren't headed out any time soon. Nonetheless, they could trust God to be good, just like He always has been.

No matter what trials we face in this life, we have to remember that God is good. Even if it doesn't seem like it in the moment, history has proven that. And our God is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. 
When we keep this in mind, no matter the circumstances, we can bring glory to His name through those trials. How great must a god be to be praised when his people aren't getting what they want! How great our God is!
It's not what you're going through, it's how you handle it.
Let our lives be full of joy, a proof of His Spirit in us, even when there's nothing to be happy about, because our God is good no matter what, and that's something to be joyful about no matter what.