Adversity's Joy

First of all, let me apologize to my readers for not writing for a few days. It's been very chaotic. I had a friend staying with me and many tasks to perform this weekend. I'm sorry to those who have been waiting for the latest installment of "Random Acts of Kindness!" I'm back!

This week, I was reminded of an important lesson--GOD KNOWS BEST! You see, when I am struggling through a situation or I become disappointed by something, my first reaction is not always to praise God for my adversity! Sorry to those of you who thought I was a "holy" person--often I'm the furthest thing from holy! For example, a few years ago, after a failed romantic relationship, my first response was to get extremely angry at God. Why had he let this happen to me when it was ALL I had ever wanted? What had I done to deserve this? I was serving God will all of my heart and this what how he would reward me?! (See, not very holy.)

Then there was the job that I felt forced to leave. I had worked so hard, organized and bettered the processes of the office, and given time and effort over the amount expected, but here I was still losing my job. "God, why was this happening?" is all I could ask.

This Friday, I worked for 2 1/2 extra hours to get ready for this week's classes. I organized my desk, cleaned my classroom and planned lessons for the coming week. I was feeling SO good about myself! I walked outside, looked at my car, and saw the flat tire which would bar me from returning home to relax on a Friday afternoon! "Urgh, God, why is this happening? Don't you know that I don't have a lot of money right now to be fixing a tire?" Again, not a very holy response.

In each of these situations, I wasn't thinking that God knew what he was doing. In fact, it was quite the opposite. I assumed that I knew better and that God must have been slipping in his job of "ruler of my life." This week, I learned that the person I wanted so desperately to have a relationship with a few years back was not the person I thought he was; the job that I felt forced out of back then was eliminated; and the tire that needed to be repaired was a whopping $8.50 to fix!

GOD KNOWS BEST!

What difficult situation has you questioning God today? Perhaps our most important act of kindness today could be to thank God for the difficult times and situations we face because they may truly be to our benefit and we don't even know it!