I had a wonderful conversation with a church member yesterday about trusting God. I told her that I liked the old saying even if trite that says, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” But I changed it. I said that because God chose to create the world with certain laws of physics and to give humankind free will both good things and bad things happen. God does not cause the bad things to happen. God does not cause a child to die. No; God does not need another little angel. The child dies because there’s illness in the world and accidents can render the body unable to function. God may not intervene and stop our hard times, but God can and will make lemonade from them. We either learn a lesson, have another door opened when one shuts, or gain a valuable life experience with which we can help someone else facing a similar problem. In those dark hours, we need to seek God and see where he is working for our future good. Noted psychologist Lee Salk told the story of his mother coming to this country in 1901 and living in poverty for many years. In spite of all her challenges she taught her family to think about what they had, not what they didn’t have. She taught them that in hardship you develop a capacity to appreciate the beauty that exists in the simplest elements of life. She always told her children: “When it gets dark enough, you can see the stars.” It’s hard to be optimistic or cheerful when awful things happen but if we trust God’s love for us we will find inner peace and hope just as surely as he hung those stars in the sky.
In both our good times and in our dark times Lord, let us see your light and power in our lives. Remind us daily that you are always near. We ask in the name of the one who promised he would send a Comforter to dwell with us. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment