Praying for Taylor

As I mentioned yesterday, my friend's baby is in the hospital with bacterial meningitis. Anyone who knows about meningitis knows it's so very serious and it can cause serious issues and even death. Obviously this is something nobody wants to deal with, let alone watch their baby go through. However, through the whole thing, Kyle and Courtney (the parents) have shown so much faithfulness and trust that it's rubbing off on people around them! Their neighbor, who previously was uninterested in church, has mentioned that this has made him think differently and now he's interested in going. God works in mysterious ways! It's amazing to see people going through way more strenuous trials than I am, being so reliant on the Lord. It's a great reminder.

I made this card for them. 

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."-Matthew 11:28 (ESV)

I was speaking with a friend last night who said it's easier for her to pray when things are going well. I can't help but imagine that this is fairly common. It's easy to be a Christian when things are smooth sailing. It's easy to praise God and see His magnificence when nothing is crumbling down around us. We have to remember that we serve a God that is so passionate and zealous about our lives; even more so than we are! We are His sons and daughters. When something goes wrong, it's not because He's napping or He's busy with something else. It's the opposite. Trials in our lives are to test our faith and help us build up our resilience to what the world is throwing at us. In James, we are told to count our trials as joyful. Normally those two words don't coincide in our minds. 

"Count it all joy, my brothers,  when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.  And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."-James 1:2-4 (ESV)

Nowhere in the Bible is the Christian life promised to be easy. In many ways, it's much harder. However, considering we get to spend eternity with a God who loves us and cares for us in a way that no earthly person could ever love or care for us...that's a goal worth pressing onward for.