Thoughts on the August issue

Life hurts. I can write that, because while life is good at the moment, I’ve lived through hurt that I sometimes still don’t understand. When my grandmother died three years ago, the grief almost swallowed me whole. When my twin brother got married, I was happy for him, but I was a little depressed that I was still single. There was a dark valley in my journey of faith that I didn’t think I’d ever climb out of and a crippling fear that God had simply had enough of me. A friend declared he was an atheist. Someone I really liked and trusted turned out not to be the person I thought he was. My other grandmother began to suffer from dementia that basically robbed me of the woman I’d known and loved. And that was just in the last three years. Life isn’t perfect, and, sometimes, it just hurts.

But what I can tell you about all of those hurtful moments and all of the times storms have hit my life is this: God never left me. In my darkest moments, when life has hurt the most, I’ve had the overwhelming feeling that God was with me, that He loved me, that He would never let go of me. When the bottom has dropped out of my life, I know that it has been God who has stopped my free fall and steadied me. Now, when the storms come, I wait for Jesus to take control of the storm in my life. Because He’s there. Because He cares. Because He has never left me alone to handle life’s hurts all by myself. Because He can handle the storms when I simply cannot.

That’s the truth I want you to take to heart as you read this month’s issue of ec. We’re not guaranteed an easy life as Christians; in fact, Jesus declared that we would face trouble in this world—but then He reminded us that He had overcome that trouble. (See John 16:33.) Get to know that Jesus, the One who walks with you through your pain and understands it because He once lived here. Think about that truth as you read Jennifer Denning’s cover story, “Faith, Interrupted” on page 33. Let it wash over you as you read this month’s devotions. Let it challenge you as you read Julie Partin’s story about the things you need to do to prepare spiritually before you leave your parents’ home (p. 52).

When you close this issue of ec, it’s my prayer that because of something you’ve read on the pages of this magazine, you’ve come into an even deeper relationship with Christ—a relationship that is so strong, deep, and personal that when life’s storms hit, you simply cling to Him. Life hurts and storms are going to come, but you’re not alone in them. God is good through it all.

So, if you read "To Tell the Truth" on page 16 of the May issue of ec, you’ve heard what Bruce Willis and Bill Maher, representatives of our culture, have to say about spiritual matters. But what about Jesus? What does He have to say?

• “Jesus said to them, ‘I assure you: Before Abraham was, I am’”(John 8:58).
• “My sheep hear My voice, I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish—ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand” (John 10:27-28).
• “ . . . If anyone is thirsty, he should come to Me and drink! The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, will have streams of living water flow from deep within him” (John 7:37a-38).
• “If you continue in My word, you really are My disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32).
• “ . . . the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father—He will testify about Me” (John 15:26b).
• “He said to him, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important commandment. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments’” (Matt. 22:37-40).
• “I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world!" (John 16:33)
• “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will save it. What is a man benefited if he gains the whole world, yet loses or forfeits himself?