We have a dear man in our church who is in his late 80's. He is a strong man of God who always has a good word to say about his Lord. He has been married twice and outlived both wives. He has raised 16 children and seen many grandchildren come into his life. He has been blessed with a long, abundant life. Yesterday tragedy came knocking at his door: his little house burnt down. The firemen think it might be a wiring problem, he thinks it might be a chimney fire, no one is quite sure. But one thing is for sure: he will never live in that house that was so full of memories ever again. And that is sad.
As soon as we heard, Brad went right away to be with this dear man and to comfort him. But words don't heal, only the Holy Spirit can do that. He lost his clothes, his furniture, his home, his cat and a life time of little trinkets and treasures.
Sometimes bad things happen to good people and we have a hard time understanding how God could allow something like this to happen. But when we look to the Word for answers they will always be there. Job lost everything, his home, his family, his wealth, yet he was able to say: Job 1:21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
What makes a person able to say such a statement in a time of great loss? I think Job was able to say this because he knew that everything he had was a blessing from God in the first place and that if God gave it to him once, He could give it to him again. And He did.
Every child of God knows the verse that says: Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. And it is times like these that we have to exercise faith and hang on to those promises that are found in Scripture. I can't tell you how an old man's house burning down will bring good to him, but I know that it will because I know the God of all creation and I know He has never let me down. His words are true and just and He will uphold His promises to His children.
When it feels like everything in your life is all crashing down around you, hang on. When those around you question 'where is your God in this?' (like Job's friends did), hang on. When you feel like God has cursed you and forgotten you, hang on. He has promised in Hebrews 13:5 for He has said, "Not at all will I leave you, not at all will I forsake you, never!" It is at times like this that we need to hang on. We need to keep on trusting, keep on hoping and keep on believing.
Someone once said "if God can bring you to it, He can bring you through it" and that is so true. He will always be with us, even in our tragedies. Hang on.
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