I’m not really in the mood to blog about something serious, because the seriousness that is going through my mind isn’t bloggable. I’m not in the mood to blog about something silly, because then I feel like I’m not doing justice to that seriousness.

I saw a license plate one time that said, “Those who believe in the Lord will not be disappointed.” That’s not quite true. Those who hope in the Lord will not be disappointed in Him, but this world has its disappointments even for the most faithful followers of Christ. Being a Christian doesn’t guarantee us happy lives, but it does gurantee a hope that puts everything else in perspective.

Believers in Jesus Christ aren’t promised that their lives will be easy. Think of Job, the apostle Paul, or even Jesus Himself. They suffered for their faith in the Lord yet they still praised God in the midst of it.

After losing all his possessions and his children, Job said, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21b, NASU)

Paul said, “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I might gain Christ,” (Philippians 3:7-8 NASU)

Even our Savior suffered loss. The Scripture tells us that “Although [Jesus] existed in the form of God, [he] did not regard equality with God as something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:6-8 NASU)

This is my prayer for those who are going through difficult times:

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD
And whose trust is the LORD.
For he will be like a tree planted by the water,
That extends its roots by a stream
And will not fear when the heat comes;
But its leaves will be green,
And it will not be anxious in the year of drought
Nor cease to yield fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:7-8 NASU)