Why God why?

This past JIM night was very impactful for me and my fiance personally as we are seeking how God might use us in mission work. A missionary from Guatamala came in a gave a very moving testimonial about how Christ has transformed her life. For 28 years now, she has served over in Guatamala, dutifuly spreading God's word and helping her husband translate the Bible. But the most powerful part of her story was this simple phrase: "Just lie there in bed and be sick for me right now." This was the part where I teared up, how she struggled with anxiety and was wondering how God would let her be sick while serving his kingdom. She paused as she was telling this story and said, sometimes serving god means lying in bed and being sick, "he just wanted me to be sick today," she said.

How often do I not look past my current so-called "sufferings" and ask God why he is doing something? Why does this happen to me? Why does a bus full of mentally challenged kids die in head on collision on a skinny Indiana road? Why does a huge psunami destroy China? Why would our God let such a thing happen?

Instead of thinking that God physically comes down and makes these tragedies happen, maybe we should be asking ourselves, what should we do about it, its in our response that matters and not in pointing the finger at a God and a Plan that is far beyond our comprehension. God is so much bigger than any one event and when we can stop, and look above the situation, we can see past our lens and even if we don't know what He is exactly doing with a particular situation, we should 100% stand firm, knowing that His way is better than our way.

JIM Night attendees are currently working through 2 Corinthinas 4 as our calling card for mission work and I was especially struck by this verse: "The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so they cannot see the light of the gopsel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."

He gives us free will, its our choice to serve him in times of hardship or to reject him. I pray that I can always see above the fray, and see past the enemy's ploy to distract us from the truth.

Your brother in Christ,
Todd McCall