At some point, you will be faced with the hardest challenge of your life. Maybe you think it’s right now, or maybe it was last year, or maybe you feel like the entire world is against you. I promise you, there is a way out.
Do you feel like you’re alone? Do you feel like God doesn’t hear your prayers? Are you wondering why God is refusing to help you? If these questions or anything similar has crossed your mind, you aren’t alone. I believe any honest Christian will tell you they have struggled with the same doubts during hardships in their life, whether it’s something as simple as not being accepted into the college you wanted to attend or something as severe as losing a child. It gets easy to start thinking God isn’t there when your world seems to be crumbling apart around you. We read about the miracles in the Bible and wonder why God isn’t doing that in our life, for us, right now. We get mad at God, sometimes breaking down to the point of screaming at Him. I want you to know that these emotions you’re feeling when your world is falling apart are normal, and it’s okay.
I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. God is a holy and righteous God, and He deserves respect, but He is also our Father. He loves us, and He cares about what we are going through. It is also true that God allows bad things to happen. Many people struggle with this idea. Why would a good God allow evil? There are hundreds of books on the topics and dozens of answers, and someday, I will write a more detailed post about the question of evil, but for those of you struggling through something right now, I don’t think those answers will help you. We can try to be as logical as we want. We can have all the answers, and we can know the right things to say, and we can take all the right steps, but pain is persistent. I am a very logical person, and I speak from experience when I say no matter how much I study and know the truth, things still hurt. Jesus understands this. He experienced life just like us, and I believe the emotional trauma He endured on the cross can be compared to the physical. The one thing that I hope can bring you comfort is this-
Jesus Wept
Why did He weep? Lazarus was dead, but Jesus was going to raise him from the dead. He didn’t cry for the one who was dead. Jesus cried because He saw the pain the others were in. He saw the hurt. He saw their broken hearts, and even though He knew what had to happen, it still hurt. Jesus had to stay away to allow Lazarus to die. He knew raising him from the dead was going to glorify God, so He let it happen, but seeing the people in pain affected Him. God doesn’t desire you to go through pain, but He sees the part of the story we can’t. He knows things have to happen, and for us to try to figure out those reasons is just speculation. What we can know for certain is that God cares enough about us that He weeps with us. The God of the universe, the creator of all things, cares enough to be troubled by what troubles you. Nothing is too small for God. I hope this can bring you some comfort. Never be afraid to cry out to Him. Talk through your feelings, tell Him how you feel, and let Him comfort you.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
Matthew 5:4
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