Loving God When Life Hurts

Every second week of the month, I aim to blog about loving God. This week I was struggling to think of something to share. Then I thought about loving God when you're in the midst of fighting sin and sadness. In the last couple of weeks I've been experiencing sadness about quite a number of things. It is easy to respond with sin, as well, when I face various challenges or circumstances that I don't like. This is a path that I, like most people, have been down many times before. What I try to do at these times is to . . .

Remember what God has done in past circumstances. I might not understand what God is going to do in these circumstances right now, but I do know what he has done in the past. I can remember the way he has revealed his character in countless ways, and the way he has blessed us. Often we can't see what God has done until months or years afterwards.

Remember that God is transforming us into his image, even (0r perhaps especially) through things we find hard. When it seems like certain personal faults or challenges are not changing, it is helpful to remember that God has transformed me a lot already and he is continuing that good work.

Avoid thinking that any form of sin or self indulgence will improve things. No, spending whatever I feel like will not make me feel better. Hitting the wall will not make me feel better. Being nasty to others will not improve things. Following God's ways in the long term does result in joy and peace, and "good fruit" in our lives. Sin or carelessness cannot bring lasting peace or joy, and will result in "bad fruit".

Cry out to God. One of the main ways we can express our loving trust in God is to tell him about anything and everything, and believe that he is involved in our lives. Even when it feels like God is not answering specific prayers, we love God when we continue to trust him enough to seek his face and his will in the situation.