Hope

I am so thankful that God has given us so many examples in Scripture. He gives us examples of people who are upright and walk in Him, and He gives us examples of those who don't. Sometimes when I read of the people who reject Him over and over, I find myself judging them, even though I am the exact same way. It is so easy for me to praise Him when things are good, or when things are going my way, but it's a whole lot harder to praise Him when things are bad, or when things aren't the way I like. I am so thankful though, that He brings those hard times to make us stronger in Him. He brings them to draw us close to Him. What an awesome God we have who wants us to be close to Him. He wants us to bring our difficulties before Him so that He would be magnified and lifted up. It always amazes me when I read the story of Job. I know it's a familiar passage to most people. In the first chapter, Job loses everything he has. That chapter ends by saying, "In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong" Job 1:22. Wow. One of my worst fears is losing my family. Job lost all of his children, and yet he didn't sin. What an awesome illustration of Christ. And yet, Job remained blameless and upright when everything was taken away from him. What an awesome example. I am so thankful that God gave us these examples in Scripture so that we might have hope. We have hope in a God who knows all things, who plans all things, and who gave us a Savior from our sins.