By, Mary Hoppe
"Why God? Why did you do this? I thought you answered prayers? Then why didn't you heal him from the cancer? Don't you know I've been praying for this for so long?"
There was my seventeen-year-old self. I had been sobbing after my uncle had passed away after his nearly three-year battle with cancer. I had been praying for him to be healed since he had first gotten diagnosed my freshman year. However, despite my many requests, God hadn't given me what I wanted. I knew that my uncle was a born-again Christian, and that he was with the Lord, but to be honest, I still was angry at God.
I opened up my Bible, and the Lord comforted me deeply. He reminded me that my uncle was somewhere so much better- he was with God! I still cried, but slowly something started changing in my heart.
I started to realize that hard things are going to happen as long as we're on this earth. That's a given. But choosing to believe the lie that God isn't good won't heal the pain- it will only make it worse.
I chose to believe God is good. It's who he is. He knew what he was doing, and he still does. And because I chose to trust him through the painful circumstances in my life, I've experienced the blessings. I've experienced joy, because I know that he has overcome death on the cross, and that we have victory (1 Corinthians 15:58).
I still cry, and it's alright to cry. Even Jesus wept (John 11:35). It means that when I cry, I know that I can come to God for peace and comfort. I know that he will work all things together for good to them that love him (Romans 8:28).
I know that he knows exactly what he's doing. I know that life circumstances don't determine God's goodness- he simply is good!
Since that time, God has used my uncle's battle with cancer to prepare me to trust him for future struggles.
No matter what you're going through, remember this - our God is a good God no matter what we face!