“There must be sin in your life!”, “God must be teaching you something”, or “God must really trust you to respond well”…..
In my formative years of my innocent faith these were the responses I often heard when the trials of life would come. To be perfectly honest, these might be true but hard times befall all of us. The past 3 years have caused amazing individuals to lose their homes, jobs, and personal possessions. Wonderful people have experienced sadness, challenge, and loss…..
As believers in the grace and love of Christ, what might be our best response to our challenges or the challenges of others? Let’s consider Job, dearly loved by God. Had he sinned? NO! Did God trust him? Yes! and yet hard times came. Naysayers attacked his belief in a God who loved him EVEN WHEN rough times came. Would we have judged his life and missed the deep love of God for him if we believed the lie that sin was the cause of his challenges?
In this season of challenge for so many we have a few choices:
First of all, GRACE….Scripture says that hard times fall on the just and the unjust. It is so important that we realize that God allows challenges in all of our lives to help us grow, to allow for miracles, and to draw us so close to Him; to let Him love us.
Another choice is to look for the “Pony in the Poop”. What is the good in our challenge? What is He teaching us?, What can we gain from being the best version of ourselves IN THE MIDST of challenge? As I pray I sense God’s compassion for His people as we experience the highs and lows of life on earth.
Perhaps you are facing a challenge, a loss or a heartache. May I extend to you God’s grace, my prayers, and the possibility to find a “pony in the poop” and perhaps, down the road, we will celebrate a rich new understanding of who God is through the challenges we face together!
Most of all, we serve a loving God and He is for us NOT against us…but we will face challenges and heartache in our lives….Perhaps we need to see Him and trust His abounding love for us while we walk our our trials with grace and faith!
That is my prayer for you, that is my prayer for me.
Find the “pony in the poop”.
🙂
Dianna Salciccioli 
The drier died this week and tonight the van died. Here pony, pony, pony!
Bonnie!! every time I hear from you –I smile!!! I hope the “pony” shows up!!
I love it, Bonnie! A call for the pony! Dianna, it’s a good reminder. Through all of life and all challenges, we must keep our eyes lifted up to the Lord!