Trials & God

"God...is the blessed controller of all things, the king over all kings and the master of all masters" 1 Tim 6:15
"Do any of the worthless idols of the nations bring rain? Do the skies themselves send down showers? NO it is you, O Lord our God. Therefore our hope is in you, for you are the one who does all this." Jer 14:22
Remember how the Lord your God led you into the desert...to humble you and test you in order to know what is in your heart....he humbled you causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manner....to teach you that man does not live on bread alone" Deut 8:2-3

God is in control of all things - This is known as the sovereignty of God. Everything is controled by God.
How then do we handle the trials and hardship that come our way? The Bible is clear that at times God brings testing to his people - allowing them to suffer hardship and pain. Does this mean that God is not Good?  Certainly not - In God's soveriegnty he knows what is for the good of his people and the glory of his name. Though we don't (and can't) fully understand it from our perspective. We need to try and accept and trust that from God's perspective trials are for our growth.

Nearly all christians that I speak to testify how they have grown through times of trial and suffering. People testify to a richer, deeper truer relationship to God because of them. They testify to the love of God, his grace, his mercy his goodness - even after suffering what seem to be the most excrutiating of situations. So as we prepare for trials can we have a different perspective - Not one of dispair But rather one of hope and trust.

When I am afraid I will trust in you. In God whose Word I praise, in God I trust, I will not be afraid..." Ps 56