By Andrea Guachalla
Months ago while chatting with my family at breakfast I made a comment like this: “life is going suspiciously well for all of us, something bad is gonna happen for sure.” That same week two of my siblings had gotten new jobs out of the blue, I was doing well with work and my projects, and (unlike most of our lives) there hadn’t been any major issues to deal with within the previous couple of weeks or even months.
Everything was going too well to be true. And I was not the only one having that thought.
Now, I said things were going “suspiciously” well not because I am a pessimist or fatalist, but because year after year me and my family had always had to endure difficulties… Sickness, threats, divorce, death, material lackings, and all the emotional burden that can come with all of that. That was our “normal.” So I wondered if the reason everything was going so well was because a storm was approaching.
Little did we know a storm would hit sooner than we all expected.
Less than a week went by since my original statement and, in fact, the storm hit the family… Yet again. Sickness, medical emergencies, instability, disappointment, opportunists trying to get advantage of others’ tough circumstances, and the spiritual struggles that come with not knowing what God is trying to teach us in such circumstances.
Of course, when facing difficulties, not everyone reacts the same way. I am sure many of my relatives were able to praise God even while suffering and they did not dare question why He chose to try their faith. However, others (like me) struggle to understand why God allows suffering and what good could come from trials when you are constantly being hitten by them.
Though I guessed (accurately) that my faith and my family’s would be tested, I don’t think anyone anticipated the way in which that would take place. I am definitely not the one who had it worse this time and yet I believe I was the one who had the weakest response. Amidst the chaos several questions settled in my sinful heart: “Is this all there is? Just going from struggle to struggle until we all die one day? Is there never gonna be a time when we don’t go through disgrace?”
Life didn’t make much sense. Trials didn’t make sense either. I wondered if God distributes hardships to His children equally, or he just goes around choosing those who are gonna suffer more greatly randomly. Needless to say, I doubted His goodness. Maybe to a lesser degree than I had before, but still… I struggled to see how He was good and benevolent.
For weeks I was convinced in my heart that that was all there was to life: going from struggle to struggle trying to survive. And thinking that robbed me of all joy until I finally realized I was absolutely and completely wrong.
Life is not about going from struggle to struggle, but from mercy to mercy.
The Bible warns us we will all face a life of hardships, especially as Christians. At the end of the day we do live in a fallen world, and with a fallen nature. We can have it no other way. No matter who, everyone will face suffering in one way or another, there is no escape from that. What is necessary to understand though, is that God uses trials as tools to shape us in the likeness of Christ, not as a means to punish us. The Bible says that trials are to be thanked for (James 1:2-3), and that the Holy Spirit is our comforter.
I look back on the trials me and my family have endured and I realize there has always been something to be thankful for. Not only because things could have been much worse than they actually were, but because God had saved us through faith in Christ. He had given us a new life. That made us thankful and hopeful even when everything else was submerged in disgrace. Yes, we faced many trials (everyone does), but with every trial came mercy, and with mercy came true, everlasting joy.
I used to shake my fist at God whenever tough circumstances would arise… Mainly because in my sinful heart I thought He allowed those circumstances arbitrarily and His only plan was to make me miserable for the rest of my life. How wrong I was…
I realize now that it is the exact opposite. God uses trials to draw us closer to Him, to make us depend on Him and find comfort in the Holy Spirit. He uses trials to make us realize we deserve absolutely nothing, and yet in His goodness He saves us and cares for us. Knowing how unworthy and sinful we are should lead us to realize life is not about going from trial to trial complaining, and grumbling about our circumstances, but about going from mercy to mercy thanking, serving, and loving God and others DESPITE our circumstances.
If things are going suspiciously well in your life too, thank God! Rejoice at how merciful he is. If you are enduring trials and pain, thank God too! In His mercy He will strengthen you to endure suffering, and lead you to be more like Christ, your Savior.
