Trials

So yesterday, I was in a fender bender. A lady plowed into my lane, and consequently, me, as I was making a left turn while running errands on my lunch break. My first thought was, "Why me?" And I said that over and over to myself many times during the first couple of hours that followed the incident.

But then as I thought more and more about it, I asked myself, "Why NOT me?" God has never promised us easy lives on this earth. Sometimes I FEEL as if I am entitled to live a cushy and comfortable existence...in the sense that trials and tribulations should be something I hardly ever see, like those distant relatives who live in a different state. But that is NOT how life is! And I was reminded of Job, this faithful follower of God who had everything a person could want to have a comfortable life. When the testing and trials came and everything that he had was taken from him, what did he say? Job 1:21b-22 says:

Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised." In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

Wow! Reading this passage made me realize that those "whys" that I was repeating over and over were really me charging God with wrongdoing! Who am I to know what is best for me? HE knows everything about me, and knows what place this accident has in my life. Am I being sifted, or is God handing this situation to me and asking me, "Karen, will you praise and glorify Me by your actions in this difficult time?" It is in times of trial like these that I most often seem to falter and fall short. (Praise the Lord that He promises to be WITH us when we go through trials!)

After receiving a good shaking by the Holy Spirit, I stood up again in the hope and joy of WHO God is, and the knowledge that He is at work in my life. Because as He says in James 1:2-4, I am to:

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

Lord, may it be so! I long to be at that point that when trials and tribulations come into my life, that I can grow closer to God, persevere, and say as Job did, "The Lord gives and takes away, may the name of the Lord be praised!" So, as I await the details and paperwork that inevitably follow such incidents, I AM going to persevere, trusting in God's promise that He will be with me and will be working IN me....to make me into the woman He wants me to be.