WHY DO BAD THINGS HAPPEN TO GOOD PEOPLE?  Why does that kind, honest person who does the right thing get fired from his job? And why does that rotten crook become rich and get away with lying and cheating? Maybe you’ve asked yourself, “If
God is so good, then why doesn’t He do something?”

We feel like the little girl who wanted a big new bicycle. Her father told her no, she had to wait until she was bigger. The girl became angry and said, “Then I want a new Daddy!”

Sometimes when we don’t agree with God we act like that little girl who couldn’t trust her father, even though he knew that she would get hurt trying to ride the bigger bicycle. But she just thought her father wasn’t fair or didn’t really love her.

Our problem sometimes is that we’re looking for the wrong answer. We don’t believe that what God is doing is for our happiness, or that He’s even listening to us. But He is. In fact, He’s answering needs in our lives we don’t even know about! One wise person prayed, “God, don’t punish me by giving me everything I ask for.” Many times we simply don’t know what will make us happy for the rest of our lives. We want to be comfortable and happy in this moment, right now. But God wants to help us make sure we are happy forever. So He’s always working on the bigger issue --- the issue of our relationship with Him.

Does that mean He doesn’t care about our suffering now? No, He cares very much! He knows exactly what it feels like to be hurt and to suffer unfairly for something you didn’t do. Because of that He can enter in to the experience of our pain and walk with us through the trial.  He can hold us up with His strength when we stumble and guide us through the dark with His light. He can teach us the lessons we need to learn, and empower us to make the right changes, showing us that no matter what the trial, if He is with us, we will be “more than conquerors.”  ---  J.B. Hollister

“Call on Me in your time of trouble. I will deliver you, and you can give Me glory. *You shall not fear them, for the Lord your God He shall fight for you.”  PSALM 50:15; DEUTERONOMY 3:22 KJV

Whenever God gives us a cross to bear, it is a prophecy that He will also give us strength.  --- Anonymous

WHEN WE STAND IN THE MIDDLE OF A LIFESTORM, it seems as if the storm has become our way of life. We cannot see a way out. We feel defeated --- and broken. Will that brokenness keep us forever in the mire of ‘if only’ thinking? Or will we yield up that brokenness to the resources of the One who calms the winds and the waves, heals the brokenhearted, and forgives the most grievous of sins? The choice is ours. ---  Verdell Davis (adapted)