When bad things happen

I have been reading the posts here (http://aholyexperience.com/2008/07/when-bad-things-happen.html) and here (http://aholyexperience.com/2008/07/what-is-truth.html) on Holy Experiences Blog and pondering "When bad things happen".

Looking back on my life I can see a gradual development in understanding and learning to take the good and the so called bad of God's blessings. When my 15year old brother-in-law suddenly dropped dead of a heart attack while I was pregnant with our first baby. I learnt the beginnings of trust - that all works together for GOOD for those that love and fear him. ALL, not just what I see as good but also what I could call bad is also working together for Good. I was told by so many people at this time I must to xyz as it was a big shock I needed to be careful of the baby. But the lesson I learnt was that nothing I could do would change the big picture God was in control I could only wait, hope and pray that all would be ok and it was.

James died before he was able to be baptised, yet his death woke many young people to the realise that life is short, we do not know how long we have and they were able to take the opportunity and be baptised and refocus on where their lives were headed. But at the time we did not know this. We had to deal with our own loss. Unless you have been through an experience you cannot know how it feels for another. From this I learnt that sometimes it is better to say nothing rather than to say the first thing that comes into your head as these are the words that often hurt. I learnt sympathy for others who have lost a child, a young family member and that not all of us cope the same. This understanding grew through other experiences that could be called "Bad" - loosing most of our money and ending up in huge debt (developed a trust in God and a put me on the path to beginning to learn to be content here and now with whatever circumstance in life I find myself), a miscarriage, the death of my cousins 7 year old daughter (added to the experiences i had learnt with James). The list grows longer ...

Hubby taking a job that involves him being on the other side of the country for 2 weeks out of 3. I learnt to support my husband, he had made the decision now I had to submit and support him not really easy when not many people in our family or religious community supported our decision. This was made even harder when I was involved in a big car accident coming home one night after a bible study class. I was doing the right thing - taking my children to bible study and we were involved in an accident on the way home. The accident was not my fault and there was nothing i could do to prevent it. ?Did God turn good into bad? How could he let this happen to me? (The other woman was in the same situation as me - also coming home from a bible study class!) Between the 2 cars there were 6 children. Not one child was hurt, the other woman was hurt but not badly, her car was written off, our was off the road being fixed for 6 months! So was this good or bad? Again I learnt that God is always there. I had forgotten my phone. A perfect stranger stopped and because she worked in the police department knew exactly what to do - called ambulance and police, then tracked down my in laws (in the shock I had forgotten all phone numbers) called them until she got hold of them, she had to go but came back later to make sure we were all ok. Another woman stopped and stayed with some of the kids while others were being checked out in the ambulance with me. She had them laughing and so not one bit worried about what had just happened. I will always be thankful for the help provided by these 2 women who went beyond the normal helping and went out of their way to provide extra help. I am also thankful to God who put these 2 women there when I needed them. Both of them would not have normally been there at this time and place. One (who made all the phone calls) was responding to a distress call from a friend who had locked themselves out and she had a spare key. The woman other was driving around with her daughter and grandson. Grandson had some problem and driving around was the only way to settle him some nights. Was it just chance that they were there when I needed them? I don't think so.

To often we forget and become dependent on our own ability - mobile phones, the Internet etc are our first point of call. Sometimes we need to experience the so called bad to realise that God is good that he is there watching out for us and will send us the help we need. Sometime we need to go through bad experiences to learn to help others or develop our character, without this so called "bad" we will be unable to experience the good.

Slowly I am learning to take the good and the bad, learning that the bad is only my interpretation because God is faithful and WILL do as he has promised - Romans 8v28 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose"

My life line after James died was Proverbs 3v 5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart' and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy path." I may not always understand why the bad happens but I must trust that it is really for a good purpose. In every incident that happens in our life we have a choice. Accept the will of God for Good or bad and trust that he will make it good. Or choose to turn our back on him and become bitter blaming him for the bad and for not preventing it. This choice is OURS to make, so the next time we are faced with "bad"/"good" situation what will we choose to make it?