Driving up the Natchez Trace to Tupelo was an easy ride. I enjoyed the slow drive, not rushing and looking at the farmland and vegetation. Driving south back home on the Natchez Trace was totally different. The fog was as thick as pea soup, it was dark, raining, and I heard all sorts of animal calls and insects. It wasn't fun. In fact, it was downright scary.
There will be times in your life when things are easy and enjoyable. And then something will happen suddenly that turns your pleasantness into fear and suffering.
2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 says, "Now may the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work."
God's greatest gift to us is the Holy Spirit. Our gift to God is ourselves, offered as living sacrifices. But God needs a tool, or a chisel, to transform our lives. And the tool He often uses is adversity--difficult times, struggles, opposition and suffering. Adversity is necessary for growth. In our adversity, God becomes present and active. The gift He gives us in our hour of need is Himself; nothing more, nothing less.
We often ask God for tangible gifts or outcomes to our cries for help. Many of the things we ask for are legit and reasonable.
But what we really need is simply God, present and active in our lives.
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