A few years ago James and I were walking through a really hard time with our finances. Every day we were wondering how we would make it to the next. Fear of not having a place to live and gas in our car haunted us daily.
I often would ask James why God was putting us through this and what was He was trying to teach us. I would beg God to provide our needs and take us out of this pit. I would convince myself that the reason our circumstances weren’t changing was that clearly, I was missing the lesson trying to be taught.
What I failed to realize in that season of life is- it wasn’t God’s doing. It was never His will or desire for us to struggle financially. He did not lead us into this valley of
“God puts you through hard times so you can learn to lean on Him and draw closer to Him.”
Have you ever heard the above statement or even said it yourself? Do you find yourself asking God why He brought this trouble your way and what He is trying to teach you through it?
I hear this often and recently I heard it three times in a matter of four days and it breaks my heart. Why? Because it’s simply not true.
Throughout scripture, you see God use imperfect people with some pretty sketchy pasts. You see Him redeem their lives and use them for His purpose. You see countless rough and seemingly impossible situations they face and every single time you see God there, moving on their behalf, and providing breakthroughs for them to walk into victory.
What you don’t see is God creating rough patches or ditches to walk His children into and then use that moment to show them how much He loves and provides for them.
Sometimes it’s easy to forget that you’re a child of God and that He is your heavenly Father. You can be so caught up in this idea of God being this grand and mightily figure, that you lose sight of the Father/child relationship side of Him.
What loving parent wants to lead their child into trouble for the purpose to bring their children closer to them? A major character trait that parents hold is protection. Parents protect their children from harm as a sign of their love, not toss them into the pit.
What I failed to do in my personal situation was proclaim the truth of God’s word over my life. I failed to see God promises in scripture that says He provides us with everything we need. I failed to speak His promises of blessings over my life.
Instead of living the life of a victor I was choosing to live the life of a victim.
God doesn’t promise you that you will never go through trials, persecution, hard times, etc. What He does promise is to give you peace, strength, wisdom, and a straight path to walk out of those valleys.
God’s word says that He heals, delivers, and redeems us. It also says that besides being His children we are called, holy, blameless, chosen, set apart, and so much more.
The mission of hurting you, tempting you, bringing you through trials, and placing sickness and disease on your body is only from the thief himself-Satan.
You don’t need the valleys to see the goodness of God, that was already displayed for you when Christ died for you.
Colossians 1:13-14 says, “For He has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of His dear Son, who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.”
Whatever it is you are currently facing- when you lean on Christ, He will make your path straight. He won’t lead you on a curvey path full of hardship and sickness- the world and Satan does that.
Proverbs 3:5-6 says, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Friend, what I want you to know is God never brings anything bad into your life to teach you something or to reveal more of Himself to you. God is only good and anything that is not good does not come from God.
You were created for good works and through Christ He will make your path straight and give you the strength and endurance to do the work He has laid out for you.
Ephesians 2:10 says, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
Jesus didn’t lead me into the valley of grief on purpose just to show me He is my provider and strength in times of need. The world and the choices of my brother led me into the valley of grief. Jesus just never left my side, gave me peace, and lit my path out of that valley because He is my father and loves me and wants what is best for me. That is where Romans 8:28 physically lives out in my life.
And it can for you too.
Christ did not place sickness and disease on your body to show you His healing power.
Christ did not place barrenness or infertility on your womb to teach you patience and trust.
Christ did not place financial hardships in your life to reveal to you how He is your provider.
Christ did not take your hand and lead you into your valley for the purpose of His glory.
What Christ did do was…
He died on the cross so you may walk in total health.
He died on the cross so the curse of bareness and infertility will be no more.
He died on the cross so that you may live and to live a life full of generosity.
He died on the cross and that same spirit that rose Jesus from the grave lives in you so that in the midst of your valleys He is there empowering you and leading you out.
2 Corinthians 2:14 says “God leads me in the triumph and knowledge of Christ.”
This is so true. Another Christian cliche statement is this:
“If God brought you too it, he will bring you through it.”
These statements do more harm than good. They do not bring sweet comfort and peace to troubled hearts, minds, and souls. In a way, it leads to becoming more disappointed in God than bringing us closer to rely on His sovereign Grace.
It is only when we awaken to the reality that, though we may experience adversity in this life, God is faithful and merciful to guide us through it. He empowers us with strength and courage. We only need to step out in faith and confidence.
I couldn’t agree more with the idea of well-meaning statements cause more harm than good.
Amen ! What a blessed thought ! “He died on the cross and that same spirit that rose Jesus from the grave lives in you so that in the midst of your valleys He is there empowering you and leading you out.”
I really enjoyed this post, Heather. Recently I have found myself in a place where I am a bit angry with God, and it is a scary feeling that I have never experienced before. I was praying for healing for someone because it meant to much to me, but instead they passed away. I don’t understand why God would not just heal them when I know that he has the power to. Instead I ended up hurting. I am struggling with understanding that and it has been weighing on me. I know that God did not bring the sickness, but I wish he would have healed them. I like the quote where you said “God takes what was meant to hurt you and turns it into good.” I’m going to have to mull this blog over for a while. Thank you, Friend.
I can surely relate to your words. I too have experienced anger towards God when He didn’t move or operate the way I wanted Him to or thought He would. So, I just dug deeper into scripture to gain clarity and wisdom to turn that anger into peace. While I don’t know the specifics of the person you were praying for, for healing, know that I’m so sorry that the person passed. We can also grab coffee sometime and chat. I experienced the same feelings after my brother passed but since then God has spoken to my heart a lot about it. Love you!