Faith in Hard Times

If I had to pick celebrity heroes I'm pretty sure Jim Bob & Michelle Duggar would be on the list. In the unlikely case you haven't heard of them before they recently had their ninteenth child 15 weeks early - both mom and baby's health were in extreme danger. They are featured on a regular reality show by TLC.

Oddly, my reasoning for naming them "celebrity heroes" would have little to do with the number of children they have, or even our shared belief that conception is God's business - not ours. Instead, it has to do with their faith and their willingness to trust God completely with every situation in their lives. Their book goes into greater detail about this, but suffice it to say - they have chosen to place their lives in God's hands and he in turn has blessed them more then they can imagine.

One of the questions I think everyone struggles with regardless of their position on God is "Why do bad things happen to good people?" Even those of us who know and understand God's truth in the Bible still wrestle with this question. I just learned that a girl who we went to church with and that my wife and mother helped mentor during her teen years was brutally murdered a day ago. Despite having a horrific childhood, she had become a very loving and caring person - why, of anyone, did she have to die? I'm sure those closest to her now are struggling dearly with this question as I write this.

When we are faced with hard times, pain, evil, death, or sorrow it is the hardest time to stand by our faith and remember that God is in control. Back to the Duggars - watch this recent video clip from their show (sorry couldn't find a version to embed here). Pay particular attention as Jim Bob addresses the camera crew during the midst of their crisis (starts around 40 seconds in). Did you catch it?: "...we praise God when all the good things are happening, and we praise God even through this difficult situation". Faced with the possible death of his wife and unborn child, Jim Bob's faith in his Father is unwavering. It mirror's Job's response to hard times from the Bible.

God promises that even during the midst of tragedy and strife he is with us (Joshua 1:9). He even takes those troubles and shapes them into something good (Romans 8:28, Genesis 45:4-6). What a privilege that we can rely on Him. There's great freedom in the faith to trust God even through our hardest times. The situation may not be under our control - but that's OK, because it's under the control of someone far more powerful than ourselves.