I don't know about you, but when life is going along fine with mimimal problems, I tend to become complacent about my relationship with God. Yes, I still read my Bible and pray. I still go to church and attend Bible studies, but I don't seem to grow in my walk with God. I don't gain any new understandings of Him and His nature. For those of you who are married, it's sort of like being married for awhile. You tend to take the other person and the relationship for granted and don't spend the time and energy you need to make it better. Let's face it. It's our human nature to not appreciate something or someone until they are gone.
But what happens when you become deathly ill, or you lose a loved one, or your child gets hurt? What happens when you lose your job or a friend betrays you or your spouse rejects you? What happens when it seems your world has come crashing in around you? If you're a Christian, you fall to your knees before God and beg for His help.
Before my husband became a Christian, he wanted nothing to do with my new-found religion and that, along with other problems, became a huge source of contention in my marriage. For years I doubted the relationship would last, but as I look back upon it, it was during those years of intense prayer, those years of wrestling with God in the middle of the night, spending days praying and fasting for my husband and my marriage...it was during that time that I came to a far more deeper understanding of Who God really is: His power, His glory, His absolute control over everything, His plans for me, and especially His incredible love. It is this understanding of the nature of God which has kept me strong during some of the darkest hours of my life since that time, and I truly believe I've only scratched the surface in my knowlege of Him.
Could it be possible that whatever trial you are going through has been allowed by God to drive you into His presence? So you can come to a better understanding of who He is. And who knows? Perhaps that understanding will comfort and aid you greatly in even bigger trials to come. God will work out your current problem for good. He promises to do so in His word (Romans 8:28), but perhaps He's more interested in developing a deep relationship with you--not for His own joy (although I know He does enjoy His children) but for your ultimate joy!
In the words of A.W. Tozer: "Possessing a bigger, more accurate view of God is a very valuable gift.... the one who comes to a right belief about God is relieved of ten thousand temporal problems, for he sees at once that these have to do with matters which at the most cannot concern him for very long."
Have a blesssed week!
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