Lord, thank You for the storm!

With all the horrific events happening in our world today, many are asking: Why is God doing this to me” Good question, but for those who know YHWH/Y’shua/Torah and read and study Scripture faithfully, we realize that Scripture is literally unfolding before our eyes because we are in a fallen world! The ONLY thing that’s guaranteed in this “fallen world” is eternal life for those who have accepted YHWH as our ELOHIM and Y’shua as His Divine Messiah.

We are actually are told of mankind’s hardship in Ecclesiastes 9 (please read the whole, amazingly powerful short chapter!):

Ecclesiastes 9:1 I applied myself to all of this, sifted through it and concluded that the righteous and the wise, along with their deeds, are in God's hands - a person cannot know whether these people and deeds will be rewarded with love or with hatred; all options are open. 2 Anything can happen to anyone; the same thing can happen to the righteous as to the wicked, to the good and clean and to the unclean, to someone who offers a sacrifice and to someone who doesn't offer a sacrifice; it is the same for a good person as for a sinner, for someone who takes an oath rashly as for someone who fears to take an oath. (CJB)

Sadly, many are quick to blame God whenever things go wrong, but here's a kicker: How many ever remember to THANK Him for the storms - the problems, stresses and strifes? The storm, after all, could be His way of teaching us a lesson of some kind, something we need to know that we could never learn any other way. It could be a test of our faith to remind us WHO is in charge. (HE already knows who we are, but sometimes we humans need a stark reminder!) Or, it could be a situation He wants us to personally experience so that we can use it to help someone else in the future. Who knows why YHWH allows bad things to happen to us? He's God; He can do whatever He wants!

So, yes, bad things also happen to GOOD people! No one is exempt. We inherited our sinfulness from Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3) and since then, YHWH has constantly reached out to "fallen man" to show us how to become reconciled to Him via His Torah which tells us how to live holy and set apart lives - and He even sent us His Divine Son who martyred Himself on our behalf to make it easy on us to become reconciled to ELOHIM!

The next time you undergo a stressful situation, try to remember to "look on the bright side" (hard as that may be!), because YHWH does some of His best work in and through "broken vessels" - those who have suffered and grown stronger in their faith because of their suffering. Try to learn to recognize that "bad times" are part of our growing process. After all, where the sun always shines, there's a desert below....

Also remember, the key is how we react to both, the good and the bad times/situations. Do we immediately whine and cry and blame God whenever things are bad? Or do we act like mature believers who realize we are in a "fallen world" where "stuff happens" and that, no matter what, a better life awaits us in Eternity? Your reactions to life's situations will help YHWH separate the sheep from the goats on Judgment Day....(For more, please check out my article, Lord, thank You for the storm!)