Blessed Be The Name

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. That's how the song goes. How many of us, though, bless His Name when He takes away? We are very quick to praise God when a check mysteriously shows up in our mailbox, but when a good friend announces she is moving far away or a dear Christian tells you he has cancer and has less than a year to live, do we praise God? Is it possible? Should we tell God, "Thank you for giving my fellow worker, in Christ, a disease that is inoperable? The answer is one I, in my flesh, have trouble verbalizing. The song says, "Blessed be Your name, when the sun is shining down on me, when the world's all as it should be, Blessed be Your name. Blessed be Your name, on the road marked with suffering, though there's pain in the offering, Blessed be Your name." That to me, says, the answer is yes. I can't say "Thank You" right now. I'm not happy. I'm deeply grieved over these two situations that have become realities to me this past week. A friend shared with me, who has become very special in my life and the lives of many others, that she and her family will be moving by next summer. I know God has a plan, but it's hard for me to be excited or thankful. I know that shows my spiritual immaturity (as Oswald Chambers would probably say), but I will try to praise Him nonetheless. A dear brother, in Christ, who is close to my father's age, has an inoperable malignancy on his pancreas. He will be taking chemo and radiation to try to delay the pain that often comes with a growth that develops on nerve endings and blood vessels. I am praying for total healing. I know my God is fully capable of restoring Brother Jim to perfect health if He so chooses. It wouldn't be the first time.

Another one of my very close friends is having a mammogram today. Her doctor found a mass and wants to see what's going on. I pray we will know something by the end of today.
I ask you, if you read this and you are a believer in Jesus Christ, please pray for these families. They have a lot of hard decisions to make over the next few months. One way or another, God is good all the time and all the time, God is good, Amen?