WHERE IS GOD WHEN IT HURTS?

Everyone at times doubts God, even Christians, who have a
strong faith, and why He allows suffering, trauma and pain.
Throughout my tragedy of losing my precious daughter and
our long and painful separation, I doubted God much more
than once, too many times to count. I could not understand
why my daughter had to endure such suffering and most of all,
why did God allow it to continue for so long? But,through
remaining faithful and trusting God in His infinite wisdom
I began to understand that pain and suffering was a part of
life and that no person is "exempt" from the trials and
tribulations that life often brings our way. I learned
that a person cannot fully grow and become strong without
trials and adversity in their lives, nor are they able to
develop an intimate relationship with God, which He so
desires to have with all of His children. There were so
many times when my pain felt as if it would tear me in
half, and during those times I would become angry at God,
cursing Him for allowing this tragedy in my life. Yet,
even so, with my anger towards Him, I came to realize that
God never did leave my side, nor would He ever. He was with
my daughter and I throughout our entire tragedy and separation.
Jesus went through the worst suffering ever and we cannot
compare our suffering while He was on the cross that gave
us eternal life with Him, even though our pain is so great
that we feel that we will not survive it. This is true - we
are not ABLE to survive it in our own flesh. We need the
strength and power from God to hold on during the toughest
times of our life.

However, my question is always: "Why does God allow the
suffering to last so long, sometimes for many years, especially
involving young innocent children?" For me, this is the
hardest question of all to comprehend. It has never made
sense to me that a human being so small and helpless would
have to suffer so much, sometimes to the point of being killed.

It is true that God's ways are not our ways and His thoughts
are not our thoughts. Our timing is not always God's timing
which is difficult for us when we are experiencing such pain.
However, God is perfect in all ways, therefore His timing is
perfect and He allows suffering for a reason and because He is
a just and loving God, He promises us a future filled with
hope and He will turn evil into good. It is always so much
easier to comprehend the suffering of adults because we are
able to understand what is happening to us. For our children,
the story is so much different. They are young, innocent and
helpless and are often incapable of fully understanding their
pain and why they have to endure it. I have never experienced
such pain until my daughter was taken away from me and we were
separated for so many years, all due to injustice and a
corrupt court system that victimized us both. It was so
unfair and difficult to understand why God would allow such
evil to prevail for years without resolution and the justice
that was so long awaited for.

I learned that since my ways and thoughts are not God's ways,
that I may know one day the reasons for our suffering, while
on earth, or I may never know. If I never have the answer to
my question, when I reach the gates of heaven, somehow I
will know.

"Remain faithful, even while facing death
and I will give you the crown of life"

-- Revelations 2 vs. 10

Each day is a walk of faith, hope, trust and complete surrender to
a God who is loving, faithful and just. It is not an easy thing
to do, because we are human and we want things to be accomplished
in our timing, even though it may not be in our best interest
and in accordance with God's perfect will. We cannot grow as a
person if everything in our life goes perfect without any trials
and challenges. Without trials we would not have a need to have
God in our lives. Whether good times or bad, we must remember to
thank and praise Him for the positive things in our life and to
also thank Him for work that He is doing that we are unable to
fully see until it comes to fruition, for faith is believing
when we cannot see the work of the Lord.

PRAYER:

Lord, lead me, guide me, walk beside me on this long and
winding road, that we call "LIFE", and in times when I
feel overwhelmed; will You carry me through the strife?"
For I will fear no evil, for You are with me, strong to
deliver, mighty to save, for You have the whole world in
Your hands; and I will say:

GOD BLESS THIS BROKEN ROAD THAT LED ME STRAIGHT TO YOU,

For You hear me each time I call, and You catch each
tear that falls. When I feel my foot slipping, it was
Your love, Lord, that supported me and held me up.