Some Days Life Stinks

Some days I find myself wondering "Lord, what in the world is going on?"  Where is there anything right about a child dying on his 5th birthday?  What is this craziness that creates the need to welcome home a 21 year old who has lost both his legs...for what purpose? 

What is going on in a world where men molest boys and those who know or suspect it keep quiet?  Is there anybody paying attention when a mother of four is murdered and buried in a shallow grave? 

Who is tending to the needs of an elderly woman with no family as she languishes in the nursing home?  Where is there comfort for a young fatherless woman who has lost her mother, and who must make plans for her handicapped sister? 

Why do some people suffer so desperately with the maladies of depression or addiction? 

Where is there fairness in the longing for children of responsible loving couples who remain childless while never married men and women continue to produce children for which they are incapable of caring?  Why do we have people sleeping in cardboard boxes? 

How can we continue to watch young people being bullied who become so desperate they take their own lives...before they have really gotten started?   

Not much of a Christmas spirited blog, huh?  It has been that kind of day.  My heart is broken for people I just know of, and people I know well.  And, it is through this frustration and angst and questioning that my faith makes itself known.  I do not know why any of these situations have to occur.  I just have faith  (there are those I love dearly who would tell me that I might as well have faith in a door knob) that there is a God, and for every honest tear we shed for the pain of others, He sheds a hundred more.  I have no idea why He did not step in and heal that 5 year old, but I know that child rests in His arms tonight. 

I do not know why that young man had to lose his legs in a war started by old men, but I am grateful that there will be a day that he will walk on prosthetics designed by those who care. 

I do not know why that elderly woman must sit day in and day out in that nursing home, but I know that God has raised up people to tend to her needs.

I do not know how circumstances will develop for that newly orphaned young woman and her sister, but I know her church family will be devoted to helping her in every way.

I do not know why that hideous disease, depression, robs people I know and love of their joy.  I do not know why some people just cannot seem to overcome their addiction to cigarettes, sex, alcohol, drugs, pornography and other life destroyers, even as they pray that it be taken from them.  But, I know that through people like Tommy Daniel understanding and accountability are being extended.

I do not know why people have to sleep in cardboard boxes, but I am encouraged and inspired by Contributor sellers who, in the spirit of Christmas, wear Rudolph noses and antlers as they work.

I do not know why young couples suffer so with infertility or lost babies.  I do not know.  But, my faith tells me that God knows, and maybe that is sufficient.

I pray to be an instrument of the Lord.  I pray that as God, through Jesus, broke into this world in human form, that I can shine a light into some one's darkness pointing the way to the Father, just as others have brought light into my own dark days.  We all have many opportunities to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this world groaning with pain.  We can lighten loads, bring smiles, and offer assistance.  We can hold the hand of one passing from this phase of their eternal journey to the next, but we cannot postpone the passing through.  That is the business of God Almighty. 

And so, I weep with frustration and sadness that I cannot make right the ills of this world.  But, I move on in faith that we are not left here alone.  I must believe that we are gently and lovingly tended to by a Father who longs for each of us to become the best us, as we are meant to be.  Until I see Him face to face, I see Him in the faces of those who know and love Him and make it their business to reflect Him to others.

So for today, I wish you comfort in your pain, power to overcome, the faith of a child, and

blessings