Connecting the Dots: Finding His Light Through Loss and Suffering

I have endured many losses in my life. Not all have been the loss of someone's life through death. Some have been people still on this earth. Some have been jobs. Some have been parts of me. Some have been homes. They've all been different.

But I believe God lets these relationships and things happen for a reason. God lets relationships part for a season, a moment, and sometimes forever for a reason, of course. Reasons we may not understand. He understands them, though.

God is the ultimate multitasker, planner, director, editor, and presenter. He knows the beginning from the end. He knows us all by name. He knows all our thoughts, our feelings, our sins, our weaknesses, and our strengths. He knows our hearts. He knows what is good and what is evil.

He knows what has to happen because He knows all the people affected, the outcomes, and the impact it will have on His kingdom.

He is the overthinker who doesn't overthink because He doesn't overthink in the way that we see overthinking, which brings a sense of overwhelm, fear, and anxiousness.

He has us in His loving arms, whether we know it or not. He always has.

He knows how our suffering can bring someone's blessing. He knows that our trials and tribulations bring a testimony. And He also knows how many lives it will impact. He knows the healing and connection that can come through our heartbreak.

Dying in the flesh literally means trusting in all of that, even if we don't understand it, knowing that this life is temporary and we are here today and gone tomorrow. We cannot hold tight to this life.

We can't see the beginning from the end. Therefore, we do not understand the truth behind the outcome. We lack wisdom when it comes to the reality of pain and suffering in the eyes of a loving God.

We may hurt, lack, be angry, feel lost, and experience many other things. But if we trust God, we will one day understand.

God doesn't cause suffering, pain, and evil. He is not the author of evil.

God orchestrates the music and directs the choir so that the beauty of His music silences the loudness of the clanging cymbals, the high-pitched tones, the screaming, and the wailing.

Darkness can no longer infiltrate the light.

If a ship is out to sea during a severe storm, it is guided by a beacon of light. God is that beacon.

He gave us free will. He doesn't impose Himself upon us. He lets us come to Him of our own accord.

A person in a well-lit room doesn't need a flashlight. Only someone in the dark needs the light turned on.

So, remember, God doesn't cause evil. He brings evil into the spotlight so it flees back to the darkness.

And whoever was overcome by the darkness and came into His spotlight will no longer be in the darkness, but will be back home with their Father because they no longer want to wander in the dark.

God has always had the spotlight on for us to find, but we have to come to it in order to rest in His peace and His presence.

There is no peace in the darkness because His presence isn't there. And until we grow tired and no longer want to live in the dark, we will remain lost because you cannot find the truth when you cannot see.

So our Father waits patiently for every last one of His children. That might be you, maybe a loved one, maybe the least deserving sinner in our eyes. But as I said, He knows all of us in ways we do not.

So, yes, devastation happens, people do evil things, diseases exist, hatred continues, and the world seems to darken.

But it isn't because God is not here. It isn't because God doesn't love us, and it isn't because God lets evil things happen.

It is because He gave us the freedom to choose to come to Him ourselves and the freedom to play in the dark, seeking out what pleases our flesh.

So until you decide you need the light, you will continue to live in the dark.

And when you come to the light, the darkness will come, but it will not stay because all you have to do is turn to the light and expose the dark.