God is good, All the time.

A few hours ago, I had a cool moment in which a song came on my iPod that made me reflect about God's beauty, which surpasses even the greatest beauty we can think of on this earth, and how this same God poured himself out for us that we may have life, and life to the fullest. And, we even look forward to when the Kingdom is fully restored on earth, and the bride of Christ, all of us, returns to Christ. It was a cool moment of worship, especially in light of Valentine's Day. To me, it was powerful to compare the "love" of this holiday to the true love of the beautiful God.

It was a moment that made me praise God's greatness, worship his power and majesty, adore his presence and love.

And then, not 2 hours later, I heard some pretty awful news.

Initially, I didn't know anything...just that there were nearly 100 posts of "praying for you" on a friend's facebook wall. I wish I could say that this was the first, second, or even third time I'd learned of some awful news like that in the last year. Information has since slowly started to come in, and most likely will still come in with a further explanation of what happened. But, there was an accident of some kind, resulting in internal bleeding, multiple surgeries, and intubation.

A dear friend of mine from Hope College, beautiful and bright and strong, now laid up in a hospital bed, weak and perhaps at risk of losing her life if not for the amazing blessing that is modern medicine.

Every time I hear of things like this, I get this awful taste in my mouth, this pit in my stomach. I hate pain. I hate car accidents. I hate drunk drivers. I hate heart attacks. I hate rape. I hate abortion. I hate injustice. I hate prejudice. I hate hate. I hate evil. I hate so much of what is in our world, what often runs within our own hearts and minds, if we're honest. And every time I learn of something new, it just hurts.

I think back to my own bout of adversity and health problems from 2011, and all of the anger and frustration that came with that point in my life. I think back to what I felt when it was me going through the hardship. And even though my specific hardship may not "compare" with many of the others around me, I have learned a sense of hurt, of pain, of longing, of disappointment, of loss. These lessons have made me much more sensitive to when I see them around me, which is actually something I'm beginning to be more and more thankful for.

But, I think about the moment of worship I had earlier in the day, when I praised God for his beauty and goodness. In that moment of worship, I posted something about it on facebook because I wanted to share the worship with my friends. After I learned about my friend's situation, my eyes glanced over that post...and honestly, my initial reaction was a sense of guilt or regret. It seems weird, but that post almost seemed trite, irrelevant, overly optimistic to the point of glossing over, completely unrealistic, and just shallow...and I regretted putting it up. What if a mutual friend of the girl saw my post, and felt like my words were empty or stupid in light of what was happening? What if these words were tainted by the situation? Or, worse, what if the situation was made worse by the words I wrote?

See, this was my initial reaction during a long stretch of my journey in 2011, and is still a reaction that I am fighting, something I am still slowly unlearning. The reaction was to think that in light of the hardships of life, in the face of pain and brokenness, of evil, that there wasn't really a place for praise. Praise is for when times are good, but it doesn't really have much to do with hard times. Shoot, praise even becomes insensitive to those struggling through hardship...almost like taunting, because I have something to praise God about, when you are there in deep mourning, or going through great pain, or are barely hanging on to life.

And here, I found myself following this thought pattern for a moment, before I finally snapped out of it and came to my senses. See, this is a lie...and a bad one. This is an evil lie, with an evil source. This is a lie that attempts to silence the praise, the worship, the message of hope, when it is in fact most needed. See, this reaction is all backwards...it states that praise is only for when times are good, and that praise is completely inappropriate when times aren't good...when in fact, I would argue that praise is actually most important in times of deep pain and suffering. That's when we need it the most! Seriously, why would the other way make sense? When else do we desperately need a message of hope than when we are going through hardships that make hope hard?

There is a deep need for lament and for sadness in the face of hardship. As hard as it is, we cannot gloss over pain or loss or suffering; we have to let it slug us in the gut, and we have to feel the wind get knocked out of us. We have to feel it. But, just because we are feeling pain does not mean we cannot praise God. Just because we are suffering does not make any of God's promises or attributes any less true. No...in fact, it is in moments of suffering that our need for these promises and attributes is greatest. It is in these moments that we need hope.

Faith is hard. Hope is hard. Love is hard. Being Christian is hard. Anyone who tells you different is a liar. It is because of evils like racism, sexism, slavery, prejudice, exploitation, and so many others that it is hard to be Christian. Because honestly, it's one thing to believe in a God who is good, beautiful, and who works all things out for the good of those who love him when life is easy. It becomes a completely new challenge when we encounter darkness. And yet, it is in this darkness that the light shines even brighter! And good thing, too, because the darker it gets, the more we need a source of light.

I heard a wonderful sermon delivered by a powerful southern baptist black preacher earlier this day. He preached on Psalms 42 and 43, and about the process of going from singing, to sighing, to silence...and then God's ability to bring us from silence, to sighing, to singing again. He delved into these two psalms, noting the pain in the author's words. The words are full of mourning, of desperation, of hurt, of suffering. Yet, the words are also full of great hope. Both psalms end with: "Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my savior and my God." Even in the midst of all of this pain, God never ceased to be God...and the author recognized this, thus commanding his soul to praise and hope in God, his savior and God. Powerful, powerful words! In THIS moment, in his worst state, he continues to praise! He may feel pain, but he does not forget who God is! He remembers his God, his God's goodness and promises, what God has done for him previously, and his people generations past. In the midst of great sorrow and suffering, he praises.

The pastor ended by saying it is after reading these psalms that we can better understand Psalm 23. Psalm 23 is a well-known psalm of praise and hope in God, who provides and nourishes as a shepherd. Yet, we understand this hope so much better when we go through moments of psalm 42 and 43, when we suffer. When we go through hardships, yet still recognize that God is still who he says he is, no matter what our circumstances are...then, all the sudden, psalm 23 takes on new meaning.

⁴ Even though I walk
   through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
   for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
   they comfort me.

 ⁵ You prepare a table before me
   in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
   my cup overflows.
⁶ Surely your goodness and love will follow me
   all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
   forever.

Now, the darkest valley is no longer a concept; it has a name. It's cancer. It's rape. It's prejudice. It's car accidents. It's heart attacks. It's early deaths. The list goes on. But the promise remains true. Even though I walk through any kind of suffering I may be walking through, I fear no evil...for God is present! He is the shepherd, even now in this valley! He even still prepares a table! And, he reconciles the past, present, and future, so that goodness and love follow. Now that's something I can place my hope in.


Friends, when we go through our dark valleys, may we not stop praising! May we not accept the lie that our circumstances somehow effect God's goodness. Instead, may we praise all the more, delving into his promises with even more fire and passion, holding onto hope with a fiercer grip. Because ultimately, the Gospel is good news, and there is no better time for good news than when there is suffering.


Cannot stop, will not stop, cannot stop Praising the Lord!
Cannot stop, will not stop, cannot stop, gotta keep going on and on and on and on and on and on!






May we continue to pray for Jordan's recovery. Hospitals, surgeries, and ventilators are amazing blessings, and we thank God that they are being used to help Jordan right now. May she continue to recover, and experience God's healing and peace. May she (and all of us) hold onto hope even harder now...and may we do so together.