I’m not sure why we think we aren’t going to go through difficulties or hard things as Christians. It seems like we sometimes view God as a fairy godmother in the sky who makes all of our dreams come true.
But sickness, loss of life, the ravages of war, loss of jobs, decline in health, and difficult situations with our children are all a part of life. For some reason, in our little world, we seem to think we are exempt from that because, after all, we’re children of God. But the truth is, although we are, that doesn’t exempt us from life.
When we read scriptures that talk about God turning things for good, we sometimes interpret that as meaning everything good is going to happen to us and nothing difficult ever will. Not taking into account that, God does not take away our choices or free will in life, which in a lot of cases determines what happens in life.
We hear all the time that God has given man free will, and we often think that only means the freedom to choose what we want or don’t want to do. And although that’s true, the reality is, free will of choice intertwines with life itself. Free will means that, for good or bad, choices don’t just affect the person making them but everyone around them. It’s never just about us.
Here is a classic example of this…In relationships, you can choose to be with a person who may not uphold the same biblical standards or values you have. It’s justified by saying, “Love is love, and doesn’t God want me to be happy?” or how about the thought that we can change the person. And yes, because of free will, it is your choice. But that one choice can play out in a great marriage, a happy family life, or on the flip side marriage struggles, abuse, resentment, or even divorce. But even in saying that, it doesn’t mean you can make what seems like the right choice and not still face problems. Because life itself produces all manner of things. But we all know that bad choices can produce bad or negative consequences including regret, anxiety, missed opportunity, financial disaster and the list goes on.
At the end of the day, each person has their own individuality and the ability to choose right or wrong. If free will were taken away, we would be like robots, just existing without a purpose. We see examples of this in nations where dictatorship or communism rules. Where people aren’t given freedom and live crushed and oppressed. But even in that environment, consequences still play out, because you see the outcome of the choices of the leaders.
The reality is, free will gives us the opportunity to choose, and our choices bear fruit. Some fruit plays out in negative and harmful ways, leading to corruption and destruction that affect others in ways that are hard to repair. But others lead to good decisions and positive outcomes.
So how does God help us in this? Whether for good or bad, no matter how the choices of humanity play out, if we allow God into our lives and hearts, He helps us work through where we are.
But what about the choices made for us, or things that happen to us that seem beyond anyone’s control? even in those cases, whether life unfolds in ways we think are good or positive, or through difficulty, struggle, and hardship, it does not remove the fact that God is near if we surrender to Him.
Job is a classic story in the Bible because it shows humanity in its raw state. We see that God allowed difficult things to happen to Job, and our first reaction may be, “That’s messed up — why would God do that?” But it mirrors life. Difficulty comes. Bad things happen, even when we’re making the right choices.
What’s powerful in the book of Job is that God was aware and present through Job’s entire ordeal. He wasn’t absent. He wasn’t off doing something else. God was there.
Many people came into Job’s life with opinions about why such things should befall him. His friends — and even Job himself — spent time trying to figure out the reason. “Surely he sinned. Surely he did something wrong. ” And that’s how we often think about our own lives. I’ve asked those questions myself: Why did it have to work out this way? Why not another way? What am I doing wrong?”
But it was the youngest person in Job’s circle who rebuked him and reminded him that God was in control. Life plays out, and not always in the ways we think it should, but that doesn’t mean God lacks control.
When God responded to Job, He made that same point. He asked Job where he was during creation, where he was when the foundations of the earth were laid.
God was pointing out that Job was not in control — but God was. And that’s important, because we often think God is not in control because of what’s happening around us and to us. But what happens in our lives that we can’t control does not lessen God’s control over.
At the end of Job’s story, he came to realize that whether for good or bad, God was still in control. God saw his situation. God was able to redeem what seemed lost, broken, and tragic. God restored Job and gave him more in the end than he had in the beginning.
God is able restore and do the impossible.
I’ve experienced that in my own life. Even in the darkest, deepest moments — when things seemed hopeless, dead, wrong, and beyond repair — I saw God move in ways I could never have imagined.
Because it’s not about everything working out perfectly in our lives. That’s not reality. It’s about, whatever life unfolds, whether through our own choices or the ones made for us, our hope and trust needs to be anchored in God. Whether good or bad unfolds, God is always there. His hand is always reaching out. His eyes are always open. His heart is that of love and redemption.
Our single hope must be in Jesus.