Up @ 4am Again

Life is full of so many twists and turns. I really have no complaints. God is doing so many amazing things here at Johnson right now. There are also some tragic things. I have a friend who I was neighbors with for about two years. He is going through some really rough times. I will not go into the details here, but just know he and his family need a lot of prayers right now. His name is Josh Mott. If you want to read their blog its called the Josh Mott Family journey (thejoshmottfamily.blogspot.com).
I guess what I am reflecting on is the whole idea of looking beyond our own circumstances. So often I become so self absorbed that I have a hard time seeing beyond my own little bubble of studying and wrestling with the sins in my life that I tend to leave everything else to hang out to dry. Unfortunately sometimes it takes a tragedy happening to someone else you know pretty well to wake you up and take notice that there is more to life than my own little world. The Lord works in ways that cannot begin to comprehend and He often leaves me with many questions. However, those questions have never been a deterrent for my faith in Him. It is interesting how often we can all get caught up on a gigantic yet tiny little question we like to pose to our Lord. "Why?" It is a question that we have had since we all were little. Kids ask this question to parents all the time. Sometimes to annoy them (At least I did) but most often they are curious about how things work. They are trying to gain understanding of their own little world as they see it constantly changing and growing.
We adults have this question most often for God. We do not ask it to annoy our Savior, we ask it because we desire to have a clearer understanding of how and why He orchestrates life the way He does. It is usually when something difficult or tragic happens in our lives that we turn to God and question Him on how He is running the universe.
The truth is, there are certain things in our lives that do not make sense at the moment, but God usually has something to teach us with whatever struggle we are going through at that moment. So, my new pat answer to these hard questions is instead of asking why; try asking God what He has to show us through this experience. Now..... I believe this is true and most of the time this does help us to work through difficult times; and it does put our eyes on Jesus instead of our circumstances. However, this is not always the easiest thing to do and probably not the best thing to say to someone who is dealing with a terminal illness or a loved one with a terminal illness. These are the things that our human brains cannot wrap themselves around. For many people the whole "just put your faith in Jesus." "Just pray more." "Just trust God," isn't good enough. Well......sometimes faith, prayer, and trust is all we have left and if there is nothing left to hold onto, then what else is there?
I am really not sure where I am going with all of this today. What I do know is that God is, that we living in a fallen world, and that Christ is a great Savior, and that is something I am holding onto as I see how He is working through all that is happening around us. The Lord has blessed us in many ways, and Rachel and I rejoice in that. But, there are others who are close to us who are suffering, and we do not know how God is going to work it all out, but we will keep on praying and trusting. Okay I'm tired and I think I am starting to ramble. May you all have a blessed day today.