Rely On Him

Today I am taking a little detour from our trip through God's word. (besides today's reading was a long list of genealogies)
Sometimes life really closes in on you. You expect that as children of God that He would make sure that our lives were.... well, easy. Wouldn't that be nice; give your life to Christ and no more troubles, no more headaches, just easy street.
Paul knew a little about this. Over and over again, he was in difficult situations, life closed in on him. As he put it...Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. (2 Corinthians 11:24-26)
When I read about what he endured, I question how I would have held up under such constant difficulty. Then I stop and look at what people I love are dealing with and I admire that their faith, their trust is in God and He is seeing them through. How does a parent of three beautiful children deal with the destruction of one of children's marriage and family? Being a parent myself and knowing the pain of watching those that you love the most hurt the worst, I understand her desperation. We want our children to be happier than we have ever been. So what do we say to this?
 Jesus put it this way...“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)  He warns us that we must expect trouble. While at home here in this world, our lives will be difficult. Sometimes, following Him makes it even more so. But because we know this in advance, we are to approach our troubles with an attitude of peace. "Peace that passes understanding". Our hope is in the Lord! Not in our friends, not in our families, not in our preachers or teachers; but in the Lord, our hope is in the Lord. Our hope is in the Lord. He overcame the world and because our hope is in Him, so will we!
I like the way Paul put it....."And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead." (2 Corinthians 1:7-9)
We share in suffering like him and we share in comfort like him. And then he sheds a little light on the subject of suffering and what it is all about. Paul says that they encountered difficulty in this life so that we would learn to rely on God rather than themselves. When things are going great, we forget about God. We have it all under control. What will be the end of the family problem, God knows. And because He knows, we can rely on Him. And when we rely on Him, we are at peace, we receive His comfort. Remember, he was the one that was asleep in the boat while the storms of life raged. He had the power to calm the waves then and he has the power to calm life’s storms today.
May we rely on Him. Whatever comes in this life, we have the promise of peace and comfort. To the wonderful mom dealing with a family tragedy, God loves you, your family loves you, and your church family loves you. Rely on Him, Jesus loves you and He will calm the storm.