When life is kind to us, kind to our family and friends, it’s easy to have faith, trust, hope and belief in God. What about when that kindness of life isn’t there, when times are hard, very hard, for whatever reason?
Imagine a year where everything that can go wrong does. When those you love suddenly leave this world with no warning. Not one, not two, but three people or more in short succession. Then, just as you think you can’t take any more, you hear of more sadness and have more worry with yet another loved one, or with needs unable to be met.
Where will it end, why is all this sadness happening to you, to your family and where is God in all of this? Why is He letting it happen to such a degree? Where is the hope that brings us trust in God’s love and faith that all will be well?
This is when true faith comes into play. This is when trust in God does also. No one knows how hard it is to retain faith, hope and trust when such things happen close together, unless they have gone through loss and sufferings of their own.
When year upon year of hardship, sadness, badness, pain and suffering seem to be one’s only companions, this is when God is with us most. We may feel neglected by Him, our prayers seemingly unheard, but this is when He’s there for us most – we just can’t always feel Him.
Sadly, these things are part of life and why we’re here. It’s what will decide who and what we become, how we grow spiritually and as people – or how we won’t. It’s not pleasant and can make us feel we don’t want any more if this is all life has to offer, but then one day, just as we feel we can’t take any more, a ray of light appears as if from nowhere. A light glimmering in the far distance. A light that shines brighter the closer it gets.
One day, no matter how dark life might seem or for how long, that light will come. Don’t ask why is all this happening to me, to us? Instead, ask yourself why not me, why not us? After all, everyone has to lose those they love. Everyone has to suffer pain, suffering or hardships in differing ways at certain moments throughout their lives.
When many of them come together all at once, is when it’s hardest to bear, but bear it we must. It’s by holding firm to hope, faith and trust we gain strength. Once through the other side, no matter what losses are left behind, we realise we survived it.
To do without things in life means we once knew what it was to have enough and not do without. One day, we will have enough again. One day, it will be someone else’s turn to suffer hardships.
What greater gift than to be shown what it’s like to do without? Only then we can be compassionate, generous and kind to others in their time of need due to us having a greater depth of understanding of what they’re going through.
What greater gift than to love someone and be loved by them in return? In order to feel such pain and sorrow on losing someone, we have to have experienced love. Some people are never so lucky.
Let us take faith in knowing God is helping us through it. Let us have trust in why they were taken so soon and why He wanted them with Him. Most of all, let us take comfort in knowing the pain we are suffering means we loved someone more than ourselves. In knowing we were loved by who has gone before us. That love will never die, our memories can never be taken from us. Rejoice and be glad, for one day, light will come back in our lives and happiness will be ours once more.