Do you do this too?  You have a blender of worries and concerns whirring around in your mind on a given day.  Sometimes it feels like the blender is on full blast and someone took the lid off, stuff spewing everywhere. 

As I write this, my blender is full of a lot of things that may be in yours as well.  That loved one who is fighting Covid, that friend who is waiting on a plan for the tumor they just found in her brain, that mom who just became a widow and her kids who lost their dad, the precious women and children fleeing Afghanistan or worse: left behind, and the suffering in Haiti after the earthquake.  Does that sound similar to some of your blender ingredients? 

I was so comforted this morning when I read John 16:33.  “And everything I’ve taught you is so that the PEACE which is in me, will be in you, and give you great confidence as you REST in me. For in this unbelieving world you will experience trouble and sorrows, but you must be courageous, for I have conquered the world!” 

There are so many things we will never understand this side of heaven.  But we can take heart, that God has a way of turning our darkest moments into something for His glory. He promises to walk with us during the hard times.   He can take our mess, our pain, our sorrow and use it to point people to His unconditional love.  God can use our story so His love collides with other’s pain. 

You may have a ton of questions for God.  I feel like many of them won’t be answered this side of heaven.  Questions like, “Why does my dad have to suffer with MS?” and “Why did Glenn’s sister have to die when she fell down the stairs at the mall”?  You may even be angry at God.  No matter what valley you are going through,  He promises his unfailing love and that He will never leave us.  Take heart, be of good cheer – He has overcome the world.