God is Good

Recently some friends of mine lost their newborn daughter to SIDS. A beautiful, healthy, baby girl went from her mother's arms to Jesus' arms in a moment. That family was ready for that little darling to enter their lives. They have two boys who were eager to be big brothers and have a little sister. However, God had other plans and while it is a very VERY difficult situation to find themselves in, they have never gotten angry at God. I know, that's hard for some of you to believe, especially if you are not a Christian, but its true. They have had such a fantastic testimony for the Lord that it almost makes you ashamed when you get tiffed at God over something petty. I went to college for just a short while with this couple but its almost like they're family to me. My heart hurts for them. But, I am encouraged when I see them giving God the glory for all that has happened. Natalie gave that baby to God before that precious little baby was even born. She has since, started a blog to help share what's happened and to help be an encouragement to others. "My Maddie Grace" is the story of such a short but miraculous life. While my heart hurts, and I don't understand why God had that precious family walk through this, I do not look at my own life and say, "Wow, I have it so good compared to them!" That's prideful. God has given me every blessing and some of those blessings did not seem like blessings at a time. It hurt. It was hard to deal with. I take these opportunities to be thankful for the little things and to look back through my life and examine all those times (the good ones and the "bad" ones) where God clearly said, "I love you!!!" All those times when I didn't quite deserve to be loved by the Creator of all and the Giver of all. Natalie has said over and over, "God is good" and she means it. Yes, her heart is broken. Yes, she had dreams for that little girl that will never come to pass. Yes, their family is hurting but through everything thus far, Natalie's constant testimony has been, "God is good." Can you say that? Are you going through something difficult right now? Maybe you haven't lost a child or something tragic like that but the situation, to you, is hard all the same. Do you remember Who is in control? Do you remember Who loves you more than anyone ever could? Try this, when it gets tough, you cry, you get down, you can't seem to get your head above that dark water, just say to yourself, several times if you must, "God is good." Sometimes our foolish human hearts forget what's really important and we have to remind it. So remind yourself today. No matter what happens, our God is, and always will be, good.