Sunday, August 19, 2018

There Will Be Trouble in this Life


 “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.”
John 16:33 (New International Version)

I am pretty sure that at every Lifest that Tiffany Thompson has been at, I have heard her speak. This year, the title of her talk was “Where’s the Gift in It?” When things are going badly, when life is handing you too many lemons, when you are sure nothing else can go wrong, and then it does, where are you supposed to turn? How can you see your way through to Jesus?

Tiffany shared a wonderful story, which I won’t retell here, but the gist of it was that as she was going through a trying time, and one thing after another kept going wrong, each thing was followed by a God-moment. An instance or incident where God was clearly fixing things. Where nothing so bad happened that she couldn’t find God in it.

One example. When she was in a distant city dealing with this crisis, she didn’t have a vehicle to drive. Someone she barely knew loaned her their son’s vehicle. And it wasn’t just a 1990’s Buick, it was a fully-loaded, off-road-capable monster Jeep. She showed a picture of it, it was a beast. To me, it was really an example of God’s great sense of humor.  

 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
James 1:2-3 (New International Version)

Yes, in this life you will have trials, but it will come out right in the end, to the glory of God.

Thank You, Lord, for being there for us, for picking up the broken pieces of our lives, for showing us the Light on the cloudiest of days. Amen.

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