Recently, I started a new job as a youth pastor in Grand Rapids. It's been really great, and I am very blessed by the opportunity to serve. However,when I first received the good news that I would be working at my dream job, I went through two of the roughest weeks of my summer.
You see, before I got this job, I had a great need to trust that God was going to provide for me. I was facing unemployment. I was running out of funds. I was depressed. I was forced to rely on God and seek comfort in His arms.
And it was a beautiful thing.
Naturally, when I received the job offer, I wasn't worried about finances. I wasn't depressed. I essentially was cured of a need for God. So for the two weeks between the job offer and my starting date, I meandered through life, just passing time until I began my God given work.
I didn't seek God....I didn't look to Him for guidance, or help, or comfort. It's sad that I needed trials in my life to be close with God, but without them, I was lost.
It wasn't until I started my work here in Michigan that I recognized my constant need for God's sustaining power and wisdom. I also recognized that the LORD has graciously provided me with trials so that I can learn to grow close with Him. As Paul says in James and 1 Peter, we should be thankful and even rejoice in our trials because God is using them to love us.
So I would encourage and challenge you to look at your trials in a different light, and maybe even pray that God would provide trials for you so as to have an opportunity to grow.
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