When hardship and joy live together.

Several years ago, major hardship moved into the neighborhood. I was so disillusioned. I thought the hardship would be a fun and sweet challenge for me, but it was just . . . really hard. I leaned on God and never doubted his word. I completely believed God so loved the world, but I had a hard time believing God so loved me. The hardship had really taken a toll. I would go into Hallmark to look at cards, and I'd see the Life is Good cards, and think, "Yeah, I guess life WOULD be good if you always got to go camping and fishing and hiking with your family and your dog." But that was so far from my life. Family was causing hardship, camping was impossible because of one particular family member who made going anywhere near impossible, and our dog is ornery and gets carsick (but we love her.) Not too much has changed, the hardship is still there and is still hard, but now there has been added to our family a great joy. Our dog is still ornery, we still can't go out of town without a lot of planning and forethought, but it has become easier to believe that God loves me. He has seen my affliction and the hardships Jay and I are facing, but He has brought a great new joy into our home. We are more able to deal with the hard things in life because of this surpassing gift He's given us. I read Deuteronomy and Exodus years ago, and underlined every line that said God has seen the affliction of the Israelites. That was many, many years ago, but I learned that my God, who never changes, has compassion on His people. He sees our afflictions and hears our cries, and He has great compassion. God may or may not ease your suffering today, but rest in the knowledge that He DOES so love you, and He will come to your aid in time.