God's Crucible

Just when you think you can't take one more thing....you receive one more piece of bad news.  One more bounced check, one more medical test, one more car repair bill, or one more door slammed after an argument with your kids.  "That's it, God...I want to walk out too."  I want to run away, I want all my problems to go away.  

You wonder....God...where are you?  In that quiet whisper..in the gentle tears that fall, God is there.  He has never left you.  His word promises that he will never forsake us.  God didn't promise the pain you feel, but sometimes it is a fact of life.  Where is God in the middle of our difficult and painful circumstances?  

Sometimes I can feel His presence in times of trouble and then again, sometimes the only presence I feel is my audible words that hit repeat in my head and in my heart.  Fact is being in the crucible is not a fun place to be.  It is excruciating.  It is crushing, it is staggering, it is overwhelming.  And when life is hitting with fast and furious rounds of chaos and calamities, we want answers, we want comfort, we want sameness.  

God's crucible doesn't make sense, it brings pain, loss and heartache.

When an all-knowing God allows....we don't understand.  

When an all-powerful God doesn't heal, it crushes.

One thing I have learned...God never promises us the answers, He promises His presence.  That is something that can't be grasped totally until you experience it.  God promises to never leave us, we are not alone in the crucible.  How do we hold on?  We pray, we cry out, we cry, we reach out, we wait, we hope, we don't doubt.  We inch forward through the pain, the loss, the heartache.  As we hold His hand and He holds our heart.

 When you pass through the waters, 

I will be with you;

and when you pass through the rivers, 

they will not sweep over you.

When you walk through the fire,

you will not be burned;

the flames will not set you ablaze

For I am the Lord, your God,

the Holy One of Israel, your Savior 

 Isaiah 43:2-3a

This verse is carved into my soul.  It has gotten me through a very tough time.  I will not be consumed by life, nor will the obvious sweep me away out of God's reach.  No matter what you are going through, even though it pains, it wrecks, or steals...know that God is with you.  Lean in...lean on..come in close.  He's waiting for you.

How do you see God in your troubled times?