Life is Hard....But God is Good

I had the opportunity last week to be a breakout speaker for our church's woman's retreat. I am always thankful for any opportunity that God gives me to speak 'Hope" into anyone's life and that is always what my teachings are about.

One thing I noticed more at this retreat than any other was how many people where going through difficult almost overwhelming situations in their lives, more than I can ever remember.

My message last weekend was born out of the experience of going through, what for me, the most difficult years of my life. They were and are to me long-term perplexing problems. Long-term because there was no visible end to them and perplexing because I didn't understand why they were happening, it just didn't make sense to me in my human brain why these things were happening in my life.

But as I explained to the ladies in my class, although there are pieces of those situations that I still do not understand, nor will probably ever understand, I looked for and found purposes for those situations. I saw, as Joseph said in Genesis 50:20, "What was meant to harm me, God intended it for good.

As I have reflected back to those situations and some that I still live, I have come to realize a few things God has done in my life and my families lives that was intended for good to accomplish the things He wanted for me and my family. I couldn't see them in the mist of the storm but it all became very clear as the storm subsided in my life and I could see clearly all God has done. While the storm was raging in my life I also learned some principles that if I applied them daily to my life, I could walk through those long-term perplexing problems with victory, peace and joy. Maybe not every moment or every day but where the heavy hard days are not the norm but the exception.

I will share in the next few posts some of these thots and the 7 essential elements we need to walk through these very difficult places in life with God's strength and peace.

I want to end this post with some encouragement and Hope to anyone reading it that is going through a long- term perplexing problem:

Remember these promises from God's Word:

• God is Good, Psalm 34:8
• He will turn what was meant for bad in your life to good, Gen 50:20,
• He has written your name on the palm of His hand, Isaiah 49:16,
• He holds your tears in His bottle, Psalm 56:8,
• God is our very present help in times of trouble, Psalm 46:1

And there is so much more that the Word tells us about Who God is and and how much and in what ways He loves us. Do a study on this and it will help you go through these hard times with with a greater level of Hope and Faith and with less fear and worry.

"The Scriptures give us HOPE and ENCOURAGEMENT as we wait patiently for God's promises to be fulfilled." Romans 15: 4,5 (NLT)