Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” (Exodus 20:20 ESV)
I lay on my stomach in the hospital bed. Two nurses and a doctor lurked above me, and took turns poking my back with railroad spikes, daggers, and poison-covered scalpels.
Or so it seemed to my five-year-old sensibilities.
I had been hospitalized due to a severe allergic reaction to hay… while I was playing in a barn. And the staff determined that I was probably one of those allergy kids. So they drew a checkerboard on my back, and tested each square with small pins, each tip covered with a substance in order to gauge my reaction. Rash? Allergic. No rash? Fine.
I do not remember much interaction with the doctor. But I remember my concerned parents, listening to their little boy’s exaggerated screams, trying to explain testing, temporary, and ‘things-for-your-own-good.’ I do not remember listening to them.
But I should have.
Hard and painful events are sometimes, in this sin-broken world, necessary for a purpose beyond our immediate understanding.
Our loving God really IS in charge. Our loving God really DOES have more awareness than we do. Our loving God really HAS our good in His mind. Our loving God really CAN do difficult things in our lives that have wonderful purposes.
“In God We Trust,” does not refer only to the good things in a Christian’s life. “In God We Trust,” also refers to the confusing, painful, tragic, disappointing, sad, and seemingly hopeless things.
At the very least, we learn thereby what trust really is. Complete. In all circumstances. Peace. Even the absence of fear.
Fear not, because God is at work.