In the days immediately following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 people turned back to the Lord and church attendance was up significantly.  Sometimes, it is difficult to find the good in tragedy but hard times often have the good result of turning our hearts back to what matters most … God.

There is not a week that goes by that I don’t hear of another family in our church devastated by the current economy …the loss of employment, economic ruin, families torn because the husband’s company is relocating him but the family cannot move with him since they cannot afford to sell their home … there are people we love who are struggling greatly.

I recently read an article by Rick Warren as he discussed his wife Kay’s battle with cancer.  He said that he has always heard that life has its ups and downs … but he concluded life was more like the rails that a train runs on.  There is always a measure of both good and bad going on in our lives.  The challenge before us is always to recognize and enjoy the blessings of the Lord while simultaneously trusting him for the challenges we are facing.

I have taken great encouragement from the following verses in Proverbs 10:

The blessing of the Lord makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with it. Doing wrong is fun for a fool, but living wisely brings pleasure to the sensible. Vv. 22-23 (NLT)

There are those “blessings” we grab for ourselves that carry with them their own sort of punishment … the stress of a home or boat we couldn’t really afford in the first place, the consequences of moral failure, the alienation from our children that has resulted from working too much …

BUT – God rewards the faithful with blessings that have “no sorrow” added!  The older I get the more I recognize how wealthy I really am and that the things I count most precious were given to me by God and I don’t have to pay off, insure, or regret!

Regardless of what you are facing, I implore you to turn to the Lord and walk faithfully with Him.  There is no challenge you are facing that is too large for Him to handle.  Allow Him to use you difficulties to draw you close to Him and teach you things you could not have learned in the good times and to bless you in ways more precious and wonderful than you could have imagined.