Earlier in my faith walk, rushes of hopelessness engulfed my soul. I was depressed. Sad. Depleted. Now that I think about it, I was hopeless. It wasn’t long before I was trying frantically to “pull a rabbit out of my hat” to make the pain stop.
It was sheer nonsense, of course, but that was my approach, nonetheless. I was trying to play God using the world’s rulebook and it failed. Each setback created more hopelessness and kept me from going to God.
All of us are vulnerable to the persistent pull toward despair when we encounter the trials of life. Lord knows I spent many years in that painful predicament. Thankfully, I have learned from God that feeling isolated is a predictable part of God’s plan to show us in the most intimate way possible that he is there and still in control.
God uses this type of isolation to test our character, capacity to love, and faith. He uses it to show us that the adversity in our life is there to strengthen us so we can emerge with our faith and our wits attached…and then witness to someone else.
Painful circumstances in life do not change God’s promise to help us get past the rough parts of our journey. That promise is secure, and we do not have to pull a rabbit out of the hat to get it activated.
I thank God for the trials of life and his incredible promise to be there with me all the way through the process, pain included. To give me strength to grow more and more mature in my trust of him and his Word.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
When life gets bumpy, how quick do you take it to God? How can you make it quicker?
“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” 2 Corinthians 4:17
