When the storms come
Adversity and faith. Those topics were at the center of our young women’s Bible study discussion tonight. How do you respond to adversity? How do you keep your faith strong when you face trials? What are some situations where you find it difficult to give them to God and instead try to control them yourself?
Tough questions. Questions that remind me how far God has brought me in the past three years, and questions that remind me how far I have left to go.
When my family broke apart three years ago, I fought to believe that all the pain would be worth it. I told myself multiple times a day that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him. If I could stay strong in my faith, I would get to see good someday. Even when I wasn’t sure that I believed it deep down, I said what I knew to be true. Eventually, I came to believe that truth with all my heart.
I had asked God to prove Himself in that situation, and He did abundantly. He proved Himself faithful in the little things and the big things surrounding that trial, and my faith grew as a result. I trusted Him more, and I looked forward to what all He had in store with that part of my story.
But not long after that God moved me from my church. Honestly, that was a harder trial than the family one. I had anger with that one on top of the sadness. What brought me through the hard days was remembering God’s faithfulness in the previous trial. I remembered how He had provided everything I needed to help me overcome the grief, and I knew that He would do it again. Just as before, I repeated the truth until I believed it: God works all things together for the good of those who love Him.
God proved faithful again and gave me the peace I needed. I wasn’t happy about the situation, but He gave me exactly what I needed to make it through.
And then came the retinitis pigmentosa. At that point, though, I was getting used to tough situations, and it took all of two minutes before I told God, “You’ve used blind people before, so I know you can use me with or without eyesight.”
Now, I’ve had some days where I was simply not OK with having RP, but for the most part, I don’t even think about it. God has this in His hands, and I trust Him to work out His plans in His timeframe. From watching Him work in my life the past three years, I can’t help but believe that He has amazing plans for my life. They may not look like what I envisioned or what I even wanted, but they’re good plans, and I’m excited about what the future holds for me.
In our discussion tonight, we talked about different ways we get through those hard times. For me, it’s mostly through prayer and digging into the Bible. However, sometimes a song will speak to me, and it becomes a theme of sorts throughout the trial.
One of those songs was “My Savior My God” by Aaron Shust. (It’s actually a revamp of a hymn.) The opening words are: “I am not skilled to understand what God has willed, what God has planned. I only know at His right hand stands one who is my Savior.”
That became my song for a season. I may not have all the answers, and God may not allow me to see what He’s doing in the difficult things. Still, I know for certain that I have a loving God and a living Savior, and those truths alone means that this life is worth the adversity. The Gospel means that I can have a right relationship with God, and one day I will be with my King forever.
I don’t have a perfect faith or a perfect trust; however, I do have a God who has never failed me. He’s faithful, and I will thank Him tonight for the trials that have brought me to a greater understanding of who He is and of His great love. Truly He is worth it.
