Pastor’s Corner: Trust God even in bad times

— I was recently contacted by a family that had experienced great joy and was now experiencing great sadness. The man had achieved a great deal of success in his career at a very young age. For a time he was on top and then tragedy began to strike over and over. First, a child died at the hands of a baby sitter, then their home was destroyed by a flood. During the rebuilding process, arsonists destroyed their home a second time. Now the mother-in-law was hit and killed by a drunk driver. This would be a lot to deal with over a lifetime, but this has all happened in less than a year. They naturally wanted to know why.

During the course of the human life we will have many experiences. Some of these experiences bring us great joy, while some of these experiences bring us great pain. The things in life that bring joy are indeed great, while the other things are trying, to say the least. We praise God in times of joy and often curse God in the trying times, or at least question why and where is God in our time of need.

In the Old Testament, a man named Job experienced many hardships. His children died, his servants died, most of his livestock died or were taken away, he was even afflicted with terrible sores that were so painful he scraped his skin with broken pottery trying to get some relief. Job’s wife and his friends told him he should curse God and die. His friends told him he was being punished for some sin that had beencommitted, but Job had done nothing wrong. Job did question why these terrible things were happening, but he remained faithful to his God. In the New Testament, Jesus questions where God is in the midst of his suffering. While he is suffering the pain and humiliation of crucifixion Jesus cries out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus, much like Job, perseveres because he knows there is something greater in store.

Being a Christian does not mean we get a free pass from all the suffering and hardships that exist in this world. The reality of life is that we must endure the suffering so that we can truly appreciate the joy. The suffering that we experience, as painful as it may be, is temporary. It will pass eventually. During the difficult times we must make a choice. Do we hold onto our faith and rely on God for strength or do we abandon our faith and try to go it on our own? We must persevere and hold on to the good news that Jesus proclaimed. It is during the difficult times that we experience God’s grace and learn what faith really is.

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Editor’s note: Brian Timmons is the pastor of Pea Ridge and Brightwater Methodist Churches. He can be contacted at 925-0167 or by e-mail at [email protected].

News, Pages 2 on 09/05/2012