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PROGRAM D-8094
It’s easy in good times to believe that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Romans 8:28). However, when the bottom falls out and your faith is shaken, how do you hold on to the full assurance that God is in it and is in control of everything in your life? No matter who you are, life will throw you some curve balls, some challenging times, some difficult situations—curve balls: unexpected and unwanted events or people who cause you to struggle with your faith.
I recall one year in my life—2008—that seemed to throw me one curve ball after another. My mom went on to heaven early in the year, and then my oldest brother suddenly dropped dead a few months later. In addition, another unresolved issue with potentially serious consequences, a legal matter, hung over my head for twelve long months. None of this was expected and it was a tough year. One of the things I recognized through those days was that now I had to decide—by faith, not by emotion—whether I really believed that God is in control of all things in my life, and indeed, works everything for my good.
As I walked into my home the day this legal issue surfaced, I felt like I had been hit by a truck. Nothing made sense. I felt like I was in a spiral downfall. I had earlier received a book from a publisher, written by a woman I did not know, and it was lying on my kitchen counter. I had not planned to read that book—certainly not on that day—but I believe through the Holy Spirit’s guidance, I picked it up and began to read. The book was all about God’s sovereignty, and I sat for hours until I finished the book. At that moment, I decided that whatever the outcome was, I could trust God because I truly believed he is sovereign—he is in control of my life and the universe.
It was a twelve-month curve ball where I had to again and again decide to trust God in it—against my feelings and against the circumstances. I got through that year by going back to what I believed and choosing once again to believe it—God is sovereign. I watched God work many miracles to deliver me, but it wasn’t easy. It was simple—Trust the Sovereign God. Yet it tested my faith time and again.
Maybe you’re there today, and you have to go back to the truth you know and choose to trust God. I encourage you to do so; he is a trustworthy God.