When the answers to our "why's" don't come...

Psalm 27:4-5

4 One thing I ask of the LORD,
this is what I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple.

5 For in the day of trouble
he will keep me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle
and set me high upon a rock.

I have been thinking a lot lately about suffering. I have been surrounded with some immense needs lately. So often, we want to sum everything up regarding life's hurts and we simply can't. If you have ever been through any true valleys in life you know that is not possible (to have all the answers).

Here are some of the prayer requests I have received lately:
loss of a loved one including an infant, chronic health issues, loneliness, despair, a woman struggling because she feels like God is punishing her and that is why she thinks she has had so many awful health problems, financial struggles, divorce, being single, falling into sin and struggling to get back on track, bankruptcy, custody battles, family turmoil, infertility, rejection, job loss, cancer, prodigal children...and the list goes on.

God is completely sovereign but it was never His perfect will for us to have to taste of sin and death.
I spent some time praying for a few people tonight and my heart was so grieved because they are experiencing horrible tragedy. So what do you tell a mother who has lost her precious baby? What do you say at a funeral of a stillborn child? How do you sum those type of things up and tell them that it is all going to be okay, when clearly they are not okay? What about the young girl in Auburn, Alabama who was murdered? What do you say to her family? I am not really asking these as questions. I have learned that sometimes the best thing to say to someone is "I am praying for you" and really earnestly pray and seek to serve those who are so broken hearted and crushed in spirit.

We just won't have all of the answers here on planet earth...even if we do see fruit flow from our suffering. And because we live in a fallen world we will experience so much hardship.

There are a few things that we can be sure of:
1. When Jesus wept over the death of Lazarus he wept for the Mary's and Martha's for all ages...for everyone who would taste the enemy of death and its horrible gut wrenching pain. He wept for you and for me and the hurt of enduring loss.

2. There will come a day when there is no more tears or pain for those of us who are in Christ (Revelation 21). That is the day when our "why's" will cease. That is our hope in Christ, that we will be like Him and the old order will pass away and death will be swallowed up.

Hebrews says that without faith it is impossible to please God. One thing I can say for sure is that when you are walking through the valley of life and you are suffering you will have to cling to Christ. Even when you don't "feel" it. When we lost Shelby life held so many uncertainties and I did not feel like getting up and getting in the word but by God's grace I did. The enemy wants to kick us while we are down and keep us from the Rivers of Living water...and it is when we are going through the darkest night that we need to walk by faith and cling to the word like never before. As we ache, and hurt, and feel despair in this life we have got to cling to the word of God. I can not stress how important it is that we bring the sacrifice of our broken hearts to Jesus for Him to bind them up. If we do not turn to Him we will inevitably turn away.

He still brings beauty from the ashes...I know.