Where is God in the Hard Times?

Have you ever wondered why God has not blessed you? Have you heard people say God is all about prosperity and then wondered why you live in penury? Have you just lost your job? Do you have money for your health bills? It is so easy to hear people say God is all out to bless and prosper us and yet not believe a word they say even though you bob your head and wave your hands in a religious stance to show that you truly are connected to this magnanimous God. Yet, when you get home and then poverty speaks to you and echoes throughout your home there is a tendency to forget and doubt what you just heard and really believed at the church service. The question that creeps into your mind is why hasn’t God blessed me? What did I do wrong? Should I do more to deserve His love? Is it my sin?

I know because I have been there. I have pondered and questioned the goodness of God. It is so easy to believe in a loving God when things are perfectly fine and there is abundance. Yet, the true test is when the time of famine creeps in. Do we still believe that God is good? We live in an age that teaches that God is all out to bless and prosper Christians. Conversely, there are some people that question the efficacy of this message as hunger and poverty continue to permeate the world. However, I do believe that God is all out to bless us yet not as the world views blessings. We view blessings from a materialistic standpoint yet God has always referred to blessing us with his heavenly riches and surrounding us with his grace when we see Him in heaven. This however does not mean that he shall not bless us here on earth; it just goes to show that God wants us to focus on things that are not earthly. He reminds us that this world is not our home. He states that life does not consist in the abundance of our possessions. He says that He will never leave us nor forsake us. He says we must trust in his grace.

Wherever the word prosperity appears in the bible it is tied to the need to obey the word of God. It always comes at a price. Ultimately God wants us to see that He is sufficient for us all. He wants the rich to give to the poor. He wants them to not put their hope in their riches but in him. He states that we shall receive a crown of righteousness when he comes. Isn’t God simply perfect? Where is Lazarus today? He was never rich. I am not condemning riches or saying that it is bad to have the good things of this world I just believe that today as Christians a lot of us are seeking God for the wrong reasons with ulterior motives. How many churches or Christians would we have today if God had written in the scriptures that once you want to serve him we must sell all of our possessions and give them to the poor and then follow him?

Would we still wave our hands and say God is good? We must never forget that God is good even in the pain. There is a book I read a few years ago which talks about where God is when we go through painful ordeals and times. One thing I learnt was that God is always right there in the pain he is holding your hand and weeping with you. Joseph is a man who went through extremely hard times and yet held onto his God. Let us never forget that God is with us in the good and bad times. So, whenever you wonder where God is, just remember God is right there with you through all the pain.