Check out these lyrics from the song ‘Jesus Bring The Rain’ by Mercy Me.

So I pray

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there’ll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that’s what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain

That’s a tough perspective, isn’t it?

I found a consistent narrative with people that have read Heartstone or that have stepped into one of my stories, they ask “How can I praise the Lord after all that I’ve been through?” My response, “Do you believe that circumstances can possibly change who we are forever in Him?”

Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. -Hebrews 12:11

I am learning that wrong assumptions lead to wrong conclusions. Who are we to think that we can take our limited understanding of our life experiences and jump to a conclusion about life in general? When we find ourselves doubting God, we never have all the facts and we don’t know how the story will end. How often have you weathered the storms of life or endured hardships and missed out on the perspective that a greater good has come from it?

I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out – plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. -Jeremiah 29:11 (MSG)

Not easy, but I challenge you to not always assume the worst in these situations but to learn to trust in the Lord. Again, not easy.

Jumping into the pages of the epic story of Job, I often reflect on the storms that the Lord helped me walk through; abuse and divorce to name a couple. I cannot fully relate to the magnitude of the suffering that Job endured, but nonetheless what I endured was not fun and it hurt. There is a great truth that the Lord etched on my heart through these journeys; to have a right set of doctrines is not enough to please the Lord. I knew the truth, but my life didn’t show it! This is a tough truth to swallow, but truth that is not tested by these seasons of storms in our lives can become stagnant. Just as land deprived of nourishing water forces trees to drive their roots deeper into the ground penetrating the tough layers to find the living springs of water. These seasons of storms can drive us beyond our superficial acceptance of the truth, to have a complete dependence on God for hope and life.

I challenge you to come to that place where you are willing to see circumstances from a different perspective and with a greater purpose in mind – what is important is how we view the Lord in times of prosperity or poverty, not the prosperity or poverty itself!

One of the greatest tests I have faced along this journey of life is trusting in God’s goodness even though life does not make sense at times. Learning to find a way to trust in God who is good and not in the goodness of life! I know that I struggle with this very thing; does my faithfulness to my convictions really do any good at all? The more of His Word I meditate on, the more I see that God is still concerned even though He may not intervene immediately in every situation that I face. The voice of Truth says that God will have the final say – the day is coming soon where He will settle all accounts. In a broad scope of time God executes His justice and we have His promise to this very fact. We must wait upon our awesome Heavenly Father and never loose hope. He does notice our righteous Godly living and our faithfulness.

Yeah ok…then why does all this stuff happen to us?

I heard this or read this somewhere. There are two ways we see God’s justice; the “law of fairness” and God Himself as the standard of justice. The first way most of us see God’s justice is through the lens of the “law of fairness” or put another way, a justice that is higher and more absolute than God. This wrong and distorted view declares that God must act in response to “law of fairness” in order to be fair and our response is to appeal to that law. The other way to see God’s justice, and the correct way, is that God Himself is the standard of justice. Although He, being God, has the power to do whatever He wants, He uses His power according to His own moral perfection. This basically means that whatever He chooses to do is fair, even if we do not understand it. Our response to this is to appeal directly to Him.

The next time I start to complain to God, I have to remember how much He loves me! The Matthew Henry Commentary on Jeremiah 31 shares, “But it is hard under present frowns to take comfort from former smiles; yet it is the happiness of those who, through grace, are interested in the love of God, that it is an everlasting love, from everlasting in the counsels, to everlasting in the continuance.” He continues to give us His best! …Hold on to this!

GOD told them, “I’ve never quit loving you and never will. Expect love, love, and more love!” -Jeremiah 31:3(MSG)

How about the part in the story of Job (chapters 41 – 42) when he had a chance to speak before God? Well, God asks him questions that no human could ever answer. We have to ask ourselves this piercing question, “Are we worse off than Job or more righteous than Job?” I continue to learn the ‘simple to understand’ but ‘difficult to apply’ lesson that we need to give God a chance to reveal His greater purpose for us, and that this purpose may unfold over the course of our lives and not when we desire.

There are no hard fast rules or formulas here, but from my own experiences here are some questions to think about in the midst of a storm:

• Is it sin related? If so, we must acknowledge the sin and confess the sin to God.
• Is it an assault of the enemy? If so, we must run to our Strong Tower! Put on the armor of God and call on Him for strength.
• Is it to prepare us for something greater? If so, seek the Lord and ask Him to open up doors and present opportunities to help you discover others that have walked your adversity road.
• Was I selected for this test like Job was? If so, surround yourselves with committed and loving Christians and trust in the Lord! It is critical to resist self-pity, this is pure crazy glue from the pit of hell!
• Is it the result of a natural consequence that cannot be controlled? If so, we need to recognize that we live in a sinful and fallen world. Remember, the rain falls on both the righteous and unrighteous. Some good news…the one whose heart is truly committed to the Lord has a promise from God that these storms will one day come to an end. Isn’t that awesome?
• Is the reason unknown? If so, Don’t put up walls and draw inward from the pain; the enemy loves it when we do this. Stand firm, proclaim your faith in the Lord and believe that He cares. Wait patiently for His help, it will come!

That’s right. Because I, your GOD, have a firm grip on you and I’m not letting go. I’m telling you, ‘Don’t panic. I’m right here to help you.’ -Isaiah 31:3 (MSG)

When we take another perspective of the book of Job we can see that this book is intimately connected to the New Testament because all of Job’s questions and problems are perfectly answered in Jesus Christ.

The storms of life come and they happen to all of us. This does not mean that God is indifferent, uncaring, unloving, unjust or powerless to protect us. Stuff happens because we live in a fallen world which is the tragic consequence of sin. God allows evil for a time and we may never know why, but He often turns it around for our good and we need to rest assured that He knows what He is doing! Hold onto the the truth that God is in control!

That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. -Romans 8:28 (MSG)

If we can learn to trust Him during the storms we will have the victory and eliminate unbelief and doubt in our lives, which is one of Satan’s greatest footholds upon us. Bottom line, if God is our foundation we can never be separated from His awesome love!

You are my mighty rock, my fortress, my protector, the rock where I am safe, my shield, my powerful weapon, and my place of shelter. -Psalms 18:2 (CEV)

From my own journey I can tell you that every storm will start with just a drop of rain, a single tear, but if you set your gaze towards His face…it changes everything.

I am learning that these tough events in my own life, if we allow them, they will create in us a faith that causes us to change! It will make us unshakable, but our perspective has to change.

I have learned two key milestones that you will know that your perspective is changing. First, when you come to a place where the joy of the Lord grips your heart no matter what circumstances come your way and second when you are able to thank the Lord for the Judases in your life. Nehemiah 8:10 ends with some powerful words; “for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

Remember, if you want to walk on water….you need to get out of the boat. Let go, live courageously from your heart and just belong to Him!