When Bad Things Happen.

When bad things happen.  When someone we love becomes ill or even dies,  when someone who is just so very good, who seemed to do everything right, suffers, it can be a real test of faith.  

But it is also when we need our faith the most.  And while we are praying so hard for the person we love to be healed; we also need to be praying for ourselves and those we love.  We need to Pray that our faith will not fail, but grow.  We need to ask Jesus to hold on to us, even if we fail to hold on to Him.  And we need to ask God to strengthen our faith and not allow it to weaken.  We need to ask the Holy Spirit to Help us. To Comfort us. To lift us out of the pain we are in, if only for a while, so that we can recharge and comfort others.

And we also need to be honest in our prayers.  If we don’t understand why these horrific things are happening, it’s okay to tell God that.  I do.  And it is okay to be angry and sad. But it is also important to end our prayer with “Thy Will Be Done”. 

We only know what we want now, but God knows all of our tomorrows.  In fact, God knows all of the tomorrows of every single human being and He loves us.  We can Trust His love; we need too.

And perhaps most important.  Faith is not about how we feel every day, but who we choose to follow.  There have been a number of times in my life where I have been on my knees praying, teeth gritted, tears flowing, and forced myself to pray.  And that is exactly how we sometimes get through really difficult times with our faith intact.  We keep praying, even when we don’t feel like it.  And even if God “feels” far away, He is not.  He’s right beside us.  Holding us up.

This is not Heaven.  Bad things happen on earth.  God does not stop them all, but He does help us walk through them.  And unfortunately, with pain, that is the only way to deal with it.  We have to walk through it to the other side.  With God holding our hand every step of the way!

Trust God; He loves us and will not let us down. And God will never leave us.