God is full of love for us and only permits trials to come our way for our own good.
-Brother Lawrence, Practicing The Presence Of God, 1691

When He led the Israelites out of Egypt, through the desert into the Promised Land, Exodus 13:17-18 says ‘…God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So, God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea.’

I have to imagine the thoughts of the people as they made a right after crossing the Red Sea, rather than a left. They would have gone south, around the mountains in the lower Sinai Peninsula rather than directly north toward the Mediterranean Sea. It’s not known whether the Children of Israel knew why God was sending them this way or not, but given the complaining and murmuring described in the book of Exodus, I rather imagine they did not.

Many times in my own life, I find myself in situations that aren’t going in the direction I had hoped for, planned for or expected. Quite often, they seem to lead in the opposite direction. My initial internal response is not to become overjoyed as I would have if I was headed in the direction I thought I should. Usually, it’s been more of disappointment and depression; worries that I may never reach my goal and doubt about the achievability of it, and even fear of eventual failure in the whole enterprise.

But I’ve come to understand that In God’s way of thinking and directing our lives, a trial is the equal good as that of His blessing. He sees them as good things for us to go through and endure. I am convinced this is because He is an eternal being; He exists in a realm without time, and can therefore see “the end from the beginning” (Isaiah 46:10). Sitting in such an exalted position, He would be able to see the options and variables that would lay before us in the path that we would need to walk. As a loving father, he would naturally want to steer us in a direction that will accomplish the most good with the least pain and trouble, even a path where there is pain and trouble, and He knows this ahead of time, yet still says this is the way, walk in it (Isaiah 30:21).

Faith is the thing that allows us to believe that He really is that good, while we are in the midst of all of what our senses perceive is really that bad. Faith is the substance of the (good) things we hope for and the evidence of things we cannot see (Hebrews 11:1). Faith is believing that good will come from apparent bad, provision from apparent lack, peace from apparent turmoil because at the helm is the God of the universe who cares for us and only seeks what is best for us.

How many times as parents have our children wanted something from us; candy, a toy, the glittery shiny thing in the checkout aisle that we knew was either not good for them or not what they really wanted. It was the thing that was there in the moment, designed to attract but not to fulfill. By the end of the day or week, that thing that was so important in the moment would have been forgotten about.

What was their response when we said “no”? Could we have explained ourselves? Could we have made them to see and understand? Of course not. We had perspectives as fully cognitive adults that would have been impossible to expect from a small child. It’s no surprise to me then that God describes Himself as a Father, and us as His children. It’s the most logical, sensible illustration he could possibly provide according to our human experience, and comically enough enables me to mete out my own self-chastisement when I catch myself acting out like a three year old who can’t get his way!

Another aspect of this epigraph that I appreciate is that God permits our trials. I do not believe that we are victims of random cosmological events that spring from nowhere and lead to anywhere. Nor do I accept that satanic activity is allowed to run rampant in the earth unchecked. The first two chapters of the book of Job give some insight into the mind of God regarding this.

If you’re not familiar with the story, there was a man named Job who was “blameless and upright and one who reverently feared God and shunned evil.” (Job 1:1). One day, Satan came with the other angels to answer to God and God bragged on Job. Satan countered that of course Job feared God, because He protected him.

I just love the fact that God was bragging about his kid. That’s the heart of a Father. We all do it, especially when our kids make that game winning catch, or get straight A’s, get into medical school or pass the bar, have their first children. It’s what we do as parents, why would God be any different? He was just bragging that Job was a really great kid!

The story goes on to God permitting Satan to bring hardship into Job’s life, not just once but twice. It’s also worth pointing out that Satan said to God “if YOU put forth your hand, he (Job) will curse You” (Job 1:11), but God’s response was to allow Satan to strike Job (1:12). God is not the bringer of our trials, but he is the allower of them. That’s an important distinction. David said in Psalm 119:71 that “it was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.”

No decent parent would afflict their child. But all of us would allow them to go through situations where they struggle, within the boundaries of our loving oversight, so that they can learn the hard lessons of life. Often times it’s the only way they will learn, and there are innumerable biographies of high achievers that attest to the best life lessons learned as being the ones where difficulties had to be overcome. The spoiled kids are the ones who were given everything, never had to work for anything and regularly skirted responsibility and hard work, whose parents bailed them out or made excuses for their poor attitudes and behaviors.

The rest of Job’s story is him trying to understand “why bad things happen to good people” to quote a famous saying, with God finally answering him, which is well worth reading in chapters 38 through 41. Basically, God said “I’m the parent, I know what’s going on, you don’t and if I explained you couldn’t possibly understand, so trust Me, I’ve got your best in mind.” Along the lines of what we try to tell the bawling child who can’t get what they want, except from the viewpoint of a timeless, eternal being who created a universe. It gives one a sense of perspective in matters of trust and just Who has knowledge and who does not. If you’re reading this, let me re-encourage you to read those four chapters I just referenced.

I do not wish to make light of real suffering that goes on in the world. The horrific pain of neglect, abuse, murder, war, famine and starvation, abject poverty and human violations are as painful to God as they are to our sensibilities. As humans, we have been given the freedom to choose our paths, and sadly, all too many of us choose the path of evil and inflict destruction on lives, communities and nations. I believe that God offers hope and healing, even in those situations, but it must come through others of us who care enough to become involved with our time, our talents or our finances. Thankfully history has many stories of men and women who not only survived these horrors, but found ways to rebuild and thrive once they escaped.

Another of my favorite lines from Brother Lawrence is “we serve a God who is infinitely good, and Who knows exactly what he is doing.” I’ve spent more than half of my life developing a relationship with God. I’ve proven the validity of this statement over and over during those years. It doesn’t make it any less challenging to rise up and trust Him, but it does give me a history of experiences in seeing His faithfulness to recall in those times.

Joshua, as Moses’ assistant throughout the book of Exodus had a front row view to all the amazing and miraculous things that God did. When Moses was about to die, and it was Joshua’s time to lead the Children of Israel into the Promised Land, he was naturally fearful and full of self-doubt. Moses encouraged Joshua by telling him “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:8).

As I walk the difficult paths of my life on this earth, I take these words to heart and encourage myself with them. I may feel alone, forsaken, discouraged or even hopeless. But I’ve felt all those things before. I make a point to recall my past successes. They were obtained by putting one foot in front of the other and walking the path, even on the darkest and hardest of days. David understood this path when he wrote “even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me” (Psalm 23:4). We quote that verse at funerals, but it’s not about death. It’s about life. Not just life, but living it, and living it successfully and victoriously. God is only permitting our current trials for our good. Trust Him and ask Him for His grace and strength to understand it and get through it. He’s never failed to answer me once I stopped grumbling and asked for His help.