This is a section which I hope will be a source of encouragement to those going through trials or sticky patches in their lives.
I know that reading that someone else has problems is not necessarily any kind of consolation when you yourself have your own problems, but sometimes it does help to see you're not alone.
And God just absolutely blows my mind on a regular basis with His mercy and goodness that I just have to share it. He's literally too good to keep to myself.
I went through a major trial towards the end of 2000, but I was able to get through it 'cos I accepted it for what it was and just gave it to God.
That was the first time in my life that I'd welcomed a trial and just went with it. I put my trust in God and kept on praying and thanking Him for the outcome. At times it was hard, 'cos it seemed like I had to wait forever for the outcome, but God is never late, and He's never early either.
I have this Nitro Praise CD, and I just kept on feeling the need to listen to You Are My Hiding Place. It's a dance version of the worship song and it just kept me going. I held on to these lyrics:
I will trust in you
I won't be afraid
Let the weak say I am strong
In the strength of the Lord
I will trust in you.
I would be bopping away to this and crying out to God at the same time. Also, of course Bible verses kept me going. There was one particular verse that I read that just confirmed to me that everything was going to be alright. It confirmed to me that this was a trial but that I wasn't alone.
I tell you, before I've been very bitter towards God and blamed Him when things didn't work out as I'd hoped, but this time, it was really a case of "not my will, but your's be done." I just felt a sense of peace in my tribulation, 'cos I knew I wasn't alone.
I can even go so far as to say that I welcomed the trial, and it definitely brought me closer to God. Had I got what I wanted when I wanted it, it wouldn't have brought growth and closer fellowship with God, and that is basically what it's all about.
You might say, well you got what you wanted, that's why you can talk like this, but that's not it. I have not got what I wanted in the past, I had so much faith and put so much into calling on God, but to no apparent avail, as the end result wasn't what I'd hoped for.
I tell you, when you really give it all to Him and trust in Him and don't fight the trial and what you're supposed to learn from the whole sorry situation, you'll be the better for it. It's all about Him and our relationship with Him. He really is our hiding place.
I went through another trial in 2001. I have always been a very healthy person, never needing to go to a doctor, and in 2001 I saw more doctors in the space of six months, than I had seen in my entire lifetime I'm sure.
I got not one, but two major "illnesses", for which I had to have three operations all told. Although I took a big knock, I did bounce back again and I know I wasn't alone in it. I had the support of my family, my friends, my two bosses at work and my church.
My mother was able to come and visit me (I hadn't seen her in 7 odd years — the longest I've ever been apart from her prior to that was the year I'd spent in Moscow), and my mind was put to rest when we talked and talked and talked and I found out she'd given her life to Christ sometime during those 7 years.
I had never known for sure, and so in a way I'm grateful for the opportunity the illnesses brought for me to know that my mum is going to heaven one day.