My name is Jon, and I want to tell you a story about how the Lord challenged me to trust Him during trials where I frankly thought it would be easier to just end my life. About 15-16 years ago, I blew out a disc in my lumbar spine. At the time, I had never experienced that type of pain, yet I didn’t know it that God was giving me a practice session for what was to come. I was treated and it got better but then it came back with a vengeance, and I was taking pain medication like they were Tic Tacs, just to stay functional.
I ended up having surgery and praised the Lord when I woke up, because the pain was gone… Again, the Lord was just giving me a break, before the big game started.
Six months later, I was diagnosed with severe Rheumatoid Arthritis. I was in a blue funk for a long time. RA is incurable. They don’t really know what causes it and all the different medications were only to prevent more damage from happening.
But God… He used this time to take someone who really had little patience with people and change that. God made me thankful for the blessings that I had previously not really paid a lot of attention to, and He compelled me to share those blessings. For a long time, my life verse has been Psalms 119:71 “It is good for me that I was afflicted, so that I may learn Your statutes.”
Just recently, I was really depressed because I knew I was about to be laid off for the second time in a calendar year. That’s when my wife introduced me to Matthew’s song “How good of God.” We had been praying for direction in what to do when I found out that I was right and that I was laid off.
But “How Good of God!” People I haven’t talk to in years came out of the woodwork to help me find a new job. A lot of folks will say, “sure I’ll keep an eye out,” but then never do anything. One person I had never met paid for a tool that helped me make my resume better. How good of God! More importantly, I’m saved! My wife is saved! My kids are saved! He has blessed me beyond measure, so I hope that if you’re suffering or challenged that you’ll remember how good God is. You may not understand but you can always trust Him.
