Good AND Bad

I find it easier to believe that bad things come from God, than good things. I guess I assume that things in life should go fairly smoothly. When they don't, I have no problem trusting that God has a reason for the crap in my life. That doesn't mean I like having crap in my life, but I can usually brainstorm up some kind of good that could come of it. However, when things go really great, or something wonderful happens out of the blue, I simply attribute it to the fact that things in life just go well sometimes; coincidence. How ridiculous is that? Most people thank God for the good stuff and either forget Him during the bad or curse Him for it.

I was explaining this phenomenon to Mike one day, and he said I am like Naomi. {{Whoa, being like anyone in the Bible is cool, but being like someone from the Bible that has the same name as a supermodel? Stop! I'm blushing!}} Anyway, Naomi from the Bible... who was bitter and blamed God for her apparent abandonment. {{Wait a minute... maybe I shouldn't be so flattered by my husbands’ assessment after all…}} She did however, end up realizing that God had not completely forgotten her and took care of her in the end (and all through the middle, as my husband pointed out).

Saying I’m like Naomi is actually fairly accurate, considering a year ago I was so angry at God, I felt like He was not involved in my life at all (abandoned) and that He could really care less about what went on in my trivial life. So, acknowledging that He is here, and somewhat participating, is also admitting that He cares. Sort of. Even if it is getting back to brainstorming the good that He could make of unfortunate happenings.

I am not quite to where Naomi was at the end of her story, but I suppose we are always on this journey of working on our relationship with God. I certainly have come a long way, but I am even more certain that I have much farther to go. My frustrations with Him are not because hard things have happened to me, or around me, but because I don't believe he actually loves me. The kind of believing that you don’t have to think about, you just know it.



This is the product of five girls going apple picking. It was so good, and so bad for us :)