I am the queen of pity parties when
things don’t go according to my plans. The last time that I dived down into my
self-induced pit of despair, I really wanted to be mad at God. How could He let such things happen to
me? Doesn’t He love me anymore?
Have you ever had this type of
dialogue between yourself and God? Over the years I’ve learned that in times of
adversity I am forced to become utterly dependent upon the Lord and His
strength. In fact, the hardships we face
are often instruments used to bring us to this point.
What does the Bible have to say
about difficult, challenging situations in our lives? James tells us to
consider it joy when we encounter various trials. Why? Because the testing of
our faith produces endurance (James 1:2).
Endurance isn’t a word that
surfaces often in my vocabulary. To have endurance is to suffer through the
trials patiently. I don’t know about
you, but when I am in the midst of a trial, I just want to get through it
quickly. And I certainly don’t consider at the time what the situation could be
teaching me or how it could be changing me for the better.
I find great comfort in the fact
that God sees it all; He knows how things are going to end and while it may
seem bleak to us, the future is not dark to Him! We know all of these truths as
believers, so why do we continue question God and His goodness in the midst of
hard things? We question God when our
hearts are not lined up with His.
“Therefore we do not lose
heart. Though outwardly we are wasting
away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are
achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but
on what is unseen. For what is seen in
temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
God doesn’t ask us to act as though
our problems do not exist. He asks us to
trust and endure the process, knowing
that He works everything out for our good. We can rest
assured that the trials of this life are temporary.
Perhaps
the hardships of life that you wish you didn’t have to face, are your
opportunity to see the rescuing, 
