When Life Gets Strange

A lesson many of us learned very early on in life is, life is not fair.  The journey of life is filled with confusing, challenging and just flat out difficult seasons.  With each twist and turn the question most often posed to God is ... why?  Why God do you allow such pain and suffering.  Why God do you allow me to experience such difficult circumstances.  Throughout the ride of life, I have certainly asked my share of why questions.

A truth that we can hang our hat on is that God is for us.  God is for us in life's trying times and has a purpose for them all.  As I have emerged from the dark times in my life I find that I begin to see God's purposes for my life so much more clearly.

God's Word is filled with such stories; beautiful narratives of God's redeeming purposes. I think of the story of Job.  A man who when all of life's joys, comforts and pleasures were ripped right out from beneath him, continued to trust that His God would not abandon him.

I think of the story of Paul.  A man who gave his life to spreading the gospel to the world around him and at the same time found himself shipwrecked, hungry, beaten, and imprisoned.  Through it all he remained set upon the call and purpose God had on his life. 

The story of Ruth is yet another amazing story.  A story of God at work in the midst of pain, confusion, and loss.  A story of a young lady who travels through a very dark season, yet because of her faithfulness to do what is right, emerges experiencing God's incredible blessing.

It is as John Piper coins it, a "Sweet and Bitter Providence."



As we navigate the twists and turns of life may we see and experience God's presence and love. May we not look for reasons to explain God away, but rather see life's strangeness as a way to allow God to reveal His divine purposes for us.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28