The good, the bad, the ugly

In the last post (Starting a relationship with God (Part 2 of 2)), I shared with you how God wanted to be with me regardless of how unholy I felt, how bad I thought I was, or how angry I was. God wanted to be present with me in every thought, emotion, or circumstance--the good, the bad, and the ugly. What I mean by this is, God wants to share all of our moments with us, just not when we are good, following His ways, or behaving exceedingly well. He is with us through it all, that is if we will let him. He will be with us when we are healthy, successful, happy, and loved. God can also with us during times of loss, hardship, pain, sorrow, and agony. Additionally, God  is present with us through the inconceivable, the things you go through life that is unimaginable. The pain and trauma that is unbearable and detestable...the things that some would even desire death, rather than to go through something of that magnitude. These could be things like injustice, abuse, damage, horror, and so forth. I don't have to point out the things you would constitute ugly in your life, but I think you understand what I mean. Some of you may be thinking in the midst of your problems, where is God in all of this? How can God be with me in this suffering? Isn't God a good, holy, and righteous God? Why does He allow this?

The answer to all of this questions are beyond me. Some of these questions only God can answer. I don't believe I am qualified to answer such in depth and challenging questions, but I can provide you with some encouragement and strength. Let's look at a Bible verse in Isaiah 43:2. It reads:

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.

In this verse, God does not say, you will not pass through the waters, rivers, or fire because I will protect you and not ever let you go through anything hard or difficult. He tells us that we will indeed have trouble, pain, struggles; we will have adversity, disaster, calamity, discomfort, and misfortune. What I want you to see is that God is saying that He will be with us; the problems will not overtake us; we will not be consumed. We must trust God when He says this, and cling to His Word and all of His Promises. John 16:33 declares I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. Yes, we will have trouble; it is inevitable, but whatever the world throws at us, if we trust in God, He will help us. God will sustain us.

We must study the Bible and get to know God's promises. His promises will not fail us, and it will be His Word that sustains us, empowers us, heals us, and delivers us. Psalm 119:50 says this My comfort in my suffering is this: Your promise preserves my life. Whatever you are going through, no matter how unbearable it may seem, know that God is with you. Cry out to Him, call on Him for help. He will come to your rescue. Psalm 120:1 affirms that we ought to call on the Lord in our distress, and he answers us (Psalm 120:1). God is not human, God cannot lie (Numbers 23:19) so speak God's promises back to Him. He will do it. Pray, vent, complain, spout about all of your issues to Him. Give God your thoughts, feelings, and circumstances for He desires to help you, through the good, bad, and ugly. Have faith that He will deliver you, heal you, restore you, and care for you. God loves you. Will you believe this?

Let us pray.

God Almighty,

I praise you. You are a good God and a good Father. You are Holy, Righteous, and without error. I thank you Lord. I thank you for the readers and that Your hand is not short that it cannot save (Isaiah 59:1). I thank you for this message, and for the desire to help, save, protect, and be present. Lord, some of these readers may have experienced unbelievable amounts of pain. Some may be broken, and some may be searching for a way out. You know their lives, struggles, and problems. You know their needs, wants, and desires. I ask you now in the name of Jesus, to help them. Come to their rescue! I know that you are the truth, life, and way, but they may not see this, so open their eyes to this truth and come to their aid. Lord, you are with us through the good, bad, and ugly. You desire to be with us, to love us, and to help us. I lift the readers up to you and thank you in advance for the miracles and wonders you are about to do. Hallelujah! Be magnified for Yours is the Kingdom, Power, and Glory forever and ever! In Jesus' Great Name, Amen.

Prayerfully,

Pam