Trusting God When Life Hurts Most

(I have been asked to write a couple of devotionals for our church; this is one of the devos I wrote on the subject of "Trust." Enjoy!)

“Lazarus was sick…so the sisters sent word to Jesus…On His arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been (dead) for four days. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet Him, but Mary stayed at home.” (Jn. 11:1, 3, 17, & 20)

They were Jesus’s close friends; Martha, Mary, Lazarus; they had all spent a lot of time together. Jesus loved going to their house, a place He could relax and enjoy their company as He rested from the grind of ministry. These were His friends, a family He loved; and yet, when they needed Him the most…He never came.

Mary was distraught. She had trusted Jesus; when she sent for Him, she thought surely He would come quickly and heal her brother, just as He healed everyone else; but instead, Jesus took His time while Lazarus’s illness took his life. “Didn’t He understand? Was my message not urgent enough? I trusted Him! I loved Him! How could He have let my brother DIE?!” Jesus did finally arrive, and Mary refused to see Him…

What do you do when the nightmare comes true? The eviction notice arrives; she was having an affair; the cancer spread; your daughter was in that wreck; your son calls you from prison? How can you trust a God, Who claims to love you, One, you’ve served faithfully, prayed to diligently, and believed in fervently, and then dares to let your life crumble around you?

We all experience times when life hits us with ruthless force, and the things we used to believe about God are shattered by our “real” reality. We find it difficult to pray, and it almost seems worthless to do the things we used to do, go to church, walk in love, tithe, after all what’s the point? What’s the point of doing all these things if they don’t protect you from life’s pain?

THIS is where trust begins. Trust is fashioned in the fires of heartache, perfected in the agony of affliction; it is birthed in the excruciating effort it takes to keep believing God when everything in you wants to quit. Trusting God surrenders to the process of pain in faith that God is still the same, and will be with us in the suffering.

Jesus wasn’t there to answer Mary’s prayer like she wanted Him to, but He was there to be with her in her pain. It is true for us today. The same God, Who brought you the man of your dreams, is the One, Who will also carry you through the divorce. The God, Who blessed you with the pregnancy, is the same One, Who will be with you as you miscarry. God may not prevent the pain or the loss, and He may not answer us the way we want Him to, but we can trust that, no matter what happens, He will be with us, loving us, even when life hurts most.