A Note From Father Jim
I'm sure that all of us can look back on our lives and find times of trial and difficulties. Each of us have faced situations in our life when we just didn't know what to do or how we could ever extricate ourselves from a situation. Things looked dark and there seemed to be absolutely no way out. But when I look back in my own life, those are the times that I can see the hand of God working. At the time his plan and his grace were not apparent to me, but in hindsight I see him working everywhere in my situation (and in me!) and I know that it was his grace that sustained me.
It may sound cliched, but it is true; our darkest times are the times that he holds us the closest. We may not see him; the pain and uncertainty may be so great that we can only cry out and say, "God, where are you?", but he is there as he promised, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." (Hebrew 13:5). Rest assured, he is there.
It was at one of the darkest points in my life where he revealed himself to me in a very powerful way: he literally showed up in my bedroom. It was a major turning point in my life. In another time of great uncertainty I felt a hand on my shoulder (it was not a human hand) and heard the words, "It's going to be all right." And, it was. We still faced some difficult challenges in the months ahead, but he kept his word: It really was all right. He never left us nor forsook us. We were clueless on how to redeem the situation, but he lead us through to victory.
When we face new trials, (and they will come) it helps for us to look back at our history with the Lord. It helps to look back at the times when we thought that all was lost but somehow he brought us back to stability. It helps to meditate on his greatness as we have experienced him in our lives and as we read in the Bible. The people in the Bible were real people, flawed and sometimes fearful and uncertain, but God moved powerfully in their lives to redeem their situations. He will do the same for us. Believe it, because it's true!
Past difficulties in life may be easy to talk about, but not so easy to live through. I wish that I could say that I was always a pillar of faith in these times, but that simply is not true. With each new challenge I face I usually react, first in my flesh and then finally in faith. I am hopeful that somewhere down the road I will learn to turn to him first! And hopefully I face each new challenge in my life resting on more of his grace than before. Hopefully I am growing my faith in him as I reflect on his faithfulness in my past challenges. I'd like to say that it gets easier, but I think perhaps the opposite is true. As we grow in faith I think the challenges to that faith may become even greater.
We all face times in our lives when we ask, "Why? Why is this happening to me, Lord? Why don't you stop it?" Let me assure you, our questions are important to God and he loves to hear them. The Bible is full of hurting people asking questions. As we read through the Psalms we see David (who wrote many of the Psalms), a man of passion, pouring out his deepest feelings to God. David wrote many of them when he was is pain; he poured out his heart and his brokenness to God and sometimes he got answers but sometimes not. But even in the times when he asked, "Why, God?" or "Where are you Lord", his faith grew stronger as he worshiped and praised his Lord. His faith was stronger than his need to know. His situation told him that things were beyond repair. His faith told him that everything was safe in God's hands. As we examine the Psalms we can see that nearly every Psalm that David authored contains praise to God. David knew who to turn to in times of trouble. David knew that God was bigger than anything he faced in life. The same is true for us.
Our questions, our crying out allow us us to go to our Heavenly Father and pour out our heart to him. And in the questions we find that he holds all the answers. He may not tell us the answer, but we have faith that he knows and that he is acting on our behalf.
We all face times of uncertainty in our lives. But the one certainly that we have; the one Rock that cannot be shaken is our Lord, Jesus Christ. Lean on him. Rest in him. Believe in his power and his desire to save. There is no greater truth.
Blessings to you!
Jim+