Faithful Friday - "It is Good"

Faith 

Complete trust or confidence in someone or something. Strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.

It’s hard for us to go through trials or adversities without wondering why and to completely trust God no matter what, just because we know He is good God and He knows all.

But what is even harder is watching your child go through something and trusting God and trying to encourage your child when even you don’t know exactly why or have the answers.

Joy is back in the hospital, as of last night, with pancreatitis again (not sure if the stomach bug she had could have triggered it again or not), with enzymes at the highest level yet. It’s hard to see her hurting like she does and to see her bubbly disposition trying to shine through in spite of me knowing how she feels. It’s even harder to explain WHY this happens at the times when she’s most excited about something. She is supposed to perform at the Chinese New Year Festival tomorrow night. She has been so excited about this for weeks.

Unfortunately, sometimes we just don’t have the answers. We just have to trust God and know that He knows and that’s enough. And to be honest with you, we are still just trusting that God will perform a miracle; that Joy will be better and out of here in time to perform. And we will most certainly give Him the glory. But even if she’s not out of here, we will choose to trust God and still give Him glory.

Even though I have spoken these words to Joy many times, it is hard for this mama. I want to cry for her….or with her. Then, I went over to her blog and read her Faithful Friday post. And that did bring tears to my eyes. I’m so glad she is “dumping it all in God’s hands”.

Whether, she dances tomorrow night, or whether she is lying here in the hospital, we choose to Praise God and I am thankful that in spite of not knowing the reasons and being so disappointed, she “gets it”.

And that reminds me of a story I read about how in spite of adversity, God makes something good come of it. And that’s what we desire. No matter the outcome.

Here’s the story:

An African king had a long time friend who always looked at everything positively, always saying "This is good!" even in the face of the most difficult situations. Hunting one day, he was preparing the king’s guns. When the king took his first shot, his thumb was blown off. Though the friend realized that it was his grave mistake for not properly setting the gun, and even in the face of this furious, bleeding king, he looked at him and said, "This is good!" The king was LIVID, and ordered that his friend be thrown in jail immediately.

A year later the king was hunting in an area where he should have stayed clear and was suddenly captured by Cannibals. They tied him up and were preparing to cook him when they realized he had no thumb. They didn't eat anyone who was less than whole so they released him. Upon his way home, the king pondered the event that had taken his thumb in the first place. He went straight to the jail, told his friend what happened and apologized in tears for sending him to jail like he did. His enthusiastic friend looked at the King and replied "This is good!"

The king, taken aback once again said "What do you mean 'this is good!' I sent you mercilessly to jail and you’ve been suffering for here for an entire year – how is that good?" His friend responded unwaveringly, "Well, if I had not been in jail, I would have been with you"!

Thanks so much for stopping by! We would appreciate your prayers for Joy also!

♥ Tammy ♥