It's easy for us to chant and sing about God's goodness until life deals us a heavy blow.
A friend recently told me about another friend of his that was killed by armed robbers. He was shot in the presence of his heavily pregnant wife and their two children. Now tell me what word of encouragement will be good enough to console this young widow? Do you console her by telling her that God gives and takes away? What kind of good God gives and then takes away? Do you tell her to thank God because her husband is in a better place? I'm sure she will ask you why God didn't send your husband to a better place instead of hers. What will she tell her child when he is born?
Words wouldn't just do in the face of pain, loss, illness and challenges.
Oftentimes we console those who have suffered loss that 'God gives and takes away' and Pastors/Ministers even say this at funerals.
It was Job who said this in Job 1:21 'the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away blessed be the name of the Lord' when he suffered the loss of his children and property.
This attitude of Job in the face of loss shows he is not a fair-weather believer which is great but that doesn't make him right - God doesn't give and then take away and Christ clearly explained this when he said in John 10:10 - "The thief cometh not but for to steal to kill and to destroy: I am come that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly".
The Apostle James aptly put it also when he wrote in James 1:17 "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming from the Father of heavenly light, who does not change like shifting shadows".
Christ gives us life to the full and not in half measures and God does not change his mind after he blesses us. His gifts are not just good but are also perfect.
If you are like me, you may be tempted to ask why then do we suffer loss and pain? We must understand that while we are in the world we will suffer loss and experience pain and Christ reminded us of this when he said "I have told you these things that in me ye might have peace; on earth there will be tribulations but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world" John 16:33.
How we deal with pain and loss however is a different matter altogether and it determines what becomes of us when the 'storm' passes.
A wise man once touted that "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" and experience has proven this statement to be true - we are always better when the storm passes.
I have learned also that trusting God in the face of pain is a way of demonstrating our faith in him.
Pain can help us lose every sense of self-reliance if we learn to depend on God for strength and may reveal to us the depth of his love.
You may be hurting now and may have questioned God's goodness and presence in the midst of your pain but you must understand that 'God is good' and this goodness isn't dependent on what he does or doesn't do - he 'IS' good, goodness is his nature. God is also faithful and wouldn't let you be tempted beyond what you can bear - he always provides a way for you to endure if you depend on him 1 Corinthians 10:13.
So whatever it is you are dealing with or may have to deal with in future remember the words of the great Apostle Paul to the Romans "and we know that in all things God works for the good of them that love him, who have been called according to his purpose" Romans 8:28.
Know that pain is an inevitable part of living but it also stretches us and shows us inner strength that we never knew we possessed. Life was not meant to be lived without God - through good and bad times we need him.
The storm always passes, the tears always stops, your heart will heal, you will smile again and hopefully then you will be able to exclaim like Paul "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us" Romans 8:37.
