Where is God through life’s pains?

“Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.”
- Psalms 136:1

Being thankful to God is not always the easiest thing to be, especially when you are down and out. Can you imagine how hard it is to be thankful when you are living from paycheck to paycheck, barely making ends meet? Or perhaps it is even more difficult for you, and you are not meeting ends meet, you’re borrowing money, gaining more debt. Is it still fathomable to give thanks to God and call him good? It is hard to be in that place and answer “YES.” But there are those who really can, why is it that in the midst of such pain – someone in the family accidently dies, like the recent tragedy of Mr. Steven Curtis Chapman’s daughter – Maria Sue, who was accidently killed.

(I can only imagine the pain, hurt, and wonder of “where was God” going through their thoughts and minds of others who have heard and read the news. Where is God when life’s pain sticks us like a spear through our hearts? My heart and prayers go out to this wonderful family who has helped millions through their God given gifts.)

God is good, or there would be no good in this world at all. People would not dedicate their entire lives to helping those who struggle, who lay dying in the gutters of Calcutta, who build schools, houses, and hospitals for those who have none in the Dominican Republic and many other places around the world, including right here at home. God is still good when we take our eyes off of the pain and back on God.

This does not mean that we ignore the pain, or pretend that it had never happened. God does not ignore our pain, and neither should we. Instead we focus on God, because that will begin to help heal the pain and hurt we have gone through, it helps us to move forward in a healthy way. Staring at and focusing only on what has happened will often disable us from moving forward, being able to trust that God will bring a measure of good out of something so wrong and heart wrenching.

David had gone through such pain and trials in the process of becoming the King of Israel. King Saul was bent on having him killed, he was jealous of David with such a fierce desire. Several times he tried to kill David by hurling a javelin at him. Finally David had to flee the city. Instead of cursing God and trying to get revenge, David cried out to God. He knew that God was still good; he knew that if there were to be a turn of events, God was going to be the one to do it. And in time, David was freed from the pursuit of King Saul.

Later, after David had become King, he lost a son. In fact, I believe that he lost two sons at different periods. Even with the pain, the mourning of his heart, he chose to trust God. He found God to be true, to be faithful, and good.

God is good, he is faithful and loving. Perhaps humbling our selves, even during the worst of times - the hardest of times, through the pain, we will allow God to work out good through the bad.

today's Daily Devotions,

-istyles