"In God We Trust?"

  God is so great and awesome. I hear people speak about the goodness of God almost daily but in most cases, they speak of His goodness when something favorable has happened in their lives. I hear people praise God for a prayer answered speaking well of His name. Please don't misunderstand. We need to always be a thankful people for His goodness and turning a situation for better. But what about when things don't go so well? You hear little of thanking God or you rarely hear someone said He answered their prayers. Can God not say 'no'? Is that an answer to our prayers?

  There are some things God will not do. No, let me rephrase that. There are some things God cannot do! There are foundations that God has that He will not deviate from. God will not over-ride your will. You make choices and God will deal with the choices you make but He won't make you! God cannot allow you to trust, for happiness, in favorable circumstances if you trust Him. He offers you victory in  the hour of trial, not exemption from the hour of trial. The Almighty offers you assurance in danger, not immunity from danger. We need to understand Him better.

  We use water for many good things but that same water drowns people. We use fire to cook and keep us warm but that same fire burns property and little children caught in buildings or homes. Gravity keeps us on this earth's surface also drags people to their death when falling off a high structure. In all this, God permits the pain but He is there with His promises in the midst of that pain.

  As I have aged, there is something I have begun to see in those who suffer. The real sufferers complain the least! Mostly it is those who have lived a life completely for themselves, those who are spectators who do most of the whining. Those who encounter a stubbed toe or smoke blowing down their chimney for a few days, they seem to holler more about suffering than the real sufferers. I've listened to many with life threatening cancer, parents who have a child with a drastic disability, those with serious diabetes or heart problems, those confined permanently in a wheel chair move forward with little complaint in their relationship to God. They believe life with God is worth living. This life!

  And then we turn to Jesus. In His tragic hour and most painful part of His life He speaks, "Into Your hands I commit My spirit!" He trustingly dies. Man took everything away from our Savior but His solid conviction of faith that God was His God! Right there we find the true sense of faith. This is victory over suffering. This is victory over the world. This is victory period! Who will separate us from the love the God? It all depends on what you believe about God.