Trials aren't Evil

"It may be that the house of Judah will hear all the disaster that I intend to do to them, so that every one may turn from his evil way, and that I may forgive their iniquity and their sin." ~ Jeremiah 36:3 (ESV) 

Gods treatment of the Israelites in Jeremiah was not to ultimately destroy them (Jeremiah 33:4-9; 32:42; 30:10-11....). He was jealous of the affections of His people. He wanted them to come back to Him so that He could have a relationship with the people He chose for Himself. Take for instance the story of Haggai. He married a prostitute and he kept bringing her back after she would give herself to other men because he was showing the Israelites how God kept bringing them back after they would give themselves to other gods. He wants His people to be with Him as a husband wants his wife to be with him. Trials are just one of the things that He uses and from personal experience I can tell you that it is always worth it.

I was diagnosed with cancer at 16 and went through chemotherapy for 10 months. In the process God used intense pain, weakness, sickness and emotional breaking points to bring me closer to Him. He created within me a trust that nothing can ever break. He did this through days where I would be laying on the floor with no energy to have emotions and I would tell God "If you want me to wake up tomorrow you're going to have to do it for me because I don't think I have the strength." He would wake me up every time but He left me in the trial because He wasn't done completing His good work in me yet.Through that He taught me that He would always give me the strength that I needed to wake up the next day to do what He had called me to do even if it meant staying in a life of hardship.  He also did it through days where no human, no matter how close they were to me, could comfort me or convince me of anything about God. He would prove Himself faithful every time I would ask Him to. He replaced my desire for comfort and health for a desire to always rely upon Him even if it meant that I would be close to dying every day. Facing death became worth it to me as long as I could know Him better.

Trials aren't evil and when God's chosen are going through them, they are never intended to destroy. They are a tool that God uses to show His faithfulness to His people. He shows His intense love through the times where we have to seek Him because everything else is falling. So the next time a trial comes your way take the time to thank God that He loves you enough to think you worthy to suffer for Him. Ask Him to teach you what you need to learn and rest in the fact that He won't desert those He loved enough to send His Son to die. Take joy in your trial.

"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. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." ~ James 1:2-4 (NIV)

Israel's Only Savior

43  But now thus says the Lord,

he who created you, O Jacob,

he who formed you, O Israel:

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have called you by name, you are mine.

2  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;

and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you;

when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,

and the flame shall not consume you.

3  For I am the Lord your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.

I give Egypt as your ransom,

Cush and Seba in exchange for you.

4  Because you are precious in my eyes,

and honored, and I love you,

I give men in return for you,

peoples in exchange for your life.

5  Fear not, for I am with you;

I will bring your offspring from the east,

and from the west I will gather you.

6  I will say to the north, Give up,

and to the south, Do not withhold;

bring my sons from afar

and my 

daughters from the end of the earth,

7  everyone who is called by my name,

whom I created for my glory,

whom I formed and made.” ~ Isaiah 43:1-7 (ESV  http://www.esvbible.org/Isaiah+43/) 

9 Months away....

The thing that makes me sick to my stomach every time; a clean and organized room. Weird I know but it reminds me of moving and leaving everything that I know behind. I don't like change: drastic change. Normally I can talk myself out of the sick feeling but not this time. Because this time I'm actually moving. I'm moving across the world for 9 months.

It's crazy thinking that in 6 days I will be in a different country where they speak a different language and live a different lifestyle. It will be weird not having my brothers having contests to see who's the strongest or just being weird. It will be weird not being able to have late night theological discussions with my dad and late night talks with my mom. Everything is late-night.... must be a night owl... :)

I've noticed myself slowly shutting out things like wanting to see my horse because I know that it's easier to start now than wait till the day I can't just drive 10 minutes and see her. I'll miss staying out crazy late with my friends from church on Saturday night and then having to get up crazy early the next morning to help out in J12. I'll miss doing life with the people I have grown to care for and have grown up caring for, for 9 months. I know 9 months isn't that long and that at the end of my time in Sweden I'll miss all the people and the routines that will become a apart of my everyday life there. I know all of this but it still doesn't change that I will miss home.

I trust God and I know that He wouldn't ask me to travel across the world if He didn't have a reason. I truly am excited to go, I'm just not excited to leave all the people and the animals that I care for behind... It will be so amazing being in a different country. Being able to see how big God's creation is and how amazing it is to be a part of a family that reaches across the entire world (probably one of the coolest things about being a Christian is that no matter where I go I will always have God in common with someone). I'm excited to meet other people who love God just like me and to see Him from their perspective. To be honest though, I'm super excited that they have cold winters and love hockey just like here :)

So in 6 days I will be in another time zone but God is faithful and it will be an amazing time :)