strong faith/great trials

I know several incredible women who are going through horrific trials at this time. George Mueller said, "The only way to know strong faith is to endure great trials. “ It is a beautiful thing to see so many embracing God and his promises in the time of pain and uncertainty…it gives me faith…it gives me hope.

I really believe that bad things happen to all of us on the human journey. The only difference, as Christians, is that we have the God of all hope traveling with us. We still become sick, dismayed, hurt, grieved, and abandoned (at times by those we love the most), but our hope endures…because God is with us.

I have blogged about the song, “Our Hope Endures,” by Natalie Grant. It has spoken to me time after time in the past year:

“You would think only so much can go wrong
Calamity only strikes once
And you assume that this one has suffered her share
Life will be kinder from here….

…Walk a mile with a woman whose body is torn
With illness but she marches on

Sometimes the sun stays hidden for years
Sometimes the sky rains night after night
When will it clear
But our hope endures the worst of conditions
It's more than our optimism
Let the earth quake
Our hope is unchanged

Emanuel, God is with us
El Shaddai, all sufficient
Emanuel, God is with us
El Shaddai, all sufficient
Emanuel, God is with us
El Shaddai, all sufficient

We never walk alone
This is our hope
Our hope endures, the worst of conditions
It's more than our optimism
let the earth quake
let the earth quake
let the earth quake
Our hope is unchanged.”

So…let the earth quake…Emanuel, "God is with us"….

g