Life Lessons

Sometimes I wonder when our luck is going to run out.  Really, really bad things that completely crush some people/families keep happening to us..... but we keep coming out the other side.  I'm understanding that luck simply has nothing to do with it. 

I've come to the realization that all of these "bad things" aren't really bad things.  They are simply life.  Life happens all day, every day, all around us.  Whether we're expecting it or not.  Things change and we go through experiences because nothing ever gets accomplished and no one ever grows/learns if everything just stays the same all the time. 

I worried and stressed about Billy losing his job.  I don't know how we made it through 4-ish months of unemployment and living on my small income, but we did.  It wasn't luck though.  It was God's grace. We went through that to learn to be faithful in God's promises.  He says He'll provide..... and He did.  Why was I so worried and scared through all of that?  Because I wasn't as faithful as I should be.  Then all of this nonsense with the van.  Why was I so scared and stressed?  Because I still wasn't being as faithful as I should be.  The vehicle is up and running though and I have this visual picture of God saying, "See?  Do you get it now?  It's all gonna be fine.  Learn to trust that!" 

As with most things in life though, the only way to truly learn and understand something is to experience it.  So all of these "bad things" are simply life lessons.  Reassurance that even when everything is bad (which is just a part of life), everything will be good.  Because God is good.  That which does not kill us will only make us stronger.  Not a biblical quote, but pertains just as much as anything else.  The things we have gone through over the last several years has nothing to do with punishment or God testing us, it has to do with life lessons.  Or, at least, that's how I interpret it.  Life is short and life is good, so why worry about the small stuff?  God can and will fulfill His promises to provide if I can just get it through my thick skull.

“If life were stable, I'd never need God's help.”
― Francis Chan