The Hidden Smile of God

      It would be so easy to believe that the world is going to hell in a hand-basket. All I need to do is listen to 5 minutes of the evening news. More families lost loved ones in the war as a helicopter of Navy Seals crashed.... The stock market plummeted 600 points....London is literally burning.... A famine rages in Africa killing thousands of children a day. Thousands. Their little faces and ravaged bodies haunt me. I turn away from the images on the screen but the pictures don't leave my mind. How does a mother watch her baby waste away without dying herself? This stuff is too big. Too Heavy. Why all the suffering?

On a personal level, fear of the future and job uncertainties taunt me in the quiet times. I hear the lie of the Evil one, "Does God really care...is He really gonna come through for you...Where is He, anyway...Does He really have your best interest at heart?"

I fight to believe truth; to take in a deep breath of grace-filled air; to believe that this world is broken and all of creation groans longing for redemption which He will one day bring. I fight to lean not on my own understanding. I fight to trust the gracious, loving, tender mercy of my Father.

"God moves in a mysterious way
His wonders to perform;
He plants His footsteps in the sea
And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never failing skill
He treasures up His bright designs
And works His sovereign will.

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.

Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan His work in vain;
God is His own interpreter,
And He will make it plain.
                        --William Cowper