Praising God for Being There

There were three testimonies in Church last night. The first was a young man who had just survived a serious car accident. Like many young men he loved his car. He was a member of a car club and had poured thousands of dollars into "pimping his ride." He also chooses not to wear a seatbelt. During the accident his airbags deployed and by the grace of God he wasn't thrown from the car. He walked away from the accident with a totaled car and broken nuckles. During the testimony he expressed gratitude to God for keeping him alive. He was amazed within himself that he wasn't bitter about his car or even at the other driver "whose fault is was."

A second testimony came from a woman whose mother was very ill. She had the flu, but was hospitalized due to complications with a pre-existing stomach condition. Her family was very concerned that she might not make it. This woman gave praise to God that her mother pulled through and is going to be all right.

The third testimony was from a man who got the flu along with his wife and two children. In their misery they prayed and they all recovered from the flu in two days, instead of the full week they had expected.

What struck me by these testimonies is that in all three cases they were thanking God for keeping his hand on them through their suffering. God didn't keep them from suffering. In each case they suffered, but they gave thanks to God for being with them and taking care of them in their suffering.

In each case they also thanked God for keeping them from further suffering. The young man could have been killed in the car wreck, the woman could have lost her mother, and the family could have suffered all week with both spouses missing work. But it occured to me that that wasn't really the point. Does anyone doubt that the young man would have still given God praise if he had been hospitalized? Wouldn't the woman have still given God praise for encouraging her and giving her peace while grieving the death of her mother.

None of us want to suffer, and we all want God to keep us from suffering. But far more important than that, we need God to be with us in our suffering. For that we are eternally grateful. God did not promise us freedom from suffering - in fact he told us we would have tribulation. But he did promise that he would never leave us or forsake us. For that we love him all the more.