God loves us and cares for us – even if bad things happen to us. Life is filled with many problems: children get sick and die; husbands and wives have problems; wars come to different countries; and God sends natural disasters like lack of rain and other natural disasters. But in the midst of all these things God still loves us and cares for us.
At the beginning when God created Adam and Eve, they both lived in the Garden of Eden: it was paradise. They were both naked and didn’t have any cares at all. They were at peace with each other, they were at peace with the animals around them, and they were at peace with God – everything was perfect.
But Adam and Eve sinned: God told them:
“but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” – Genesis 2:17
Adam and Eve did eat from the tree that God told them not to eat from and very soon, in fact immediately, sin entered the human race. Adam and Eve immediately started fighting with one another – they started to blame each other for the things that went wrong. They blamed Satan for their problems. Then Adam blamed God for giving him Eve. Adam and Eve became afraid of God because in their hearts they knew that they disobeyed Him; they felt condemned and the joy they had disappeared.
This is what happened to Adam and Eve:
“When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees. Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
He replied, “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.”
“Who told you that you were naked?” the Lord God asked. “Have you eaten from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat?”
The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”
Then the Lord God asked the woman, “What have you done?”
“The serpent deceived me,” she replied. “That’s why I ate it.”
Then the Lord God said to the serpent,
“Because you have done this, you are cursed
more than all animals, domestic and wild.
You will crawl on your belly,
groveling in the dust as long as you live.
And I will cause hostility between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and her offspring.
He will strike your head,
and you will strike his heel.”Then he said to the woman,
“I will sharpen the pain of your pregnancy,
and in pain you will give birth.
And you will desire to control your husband,
but he will rule over you.”And to the man he said,
“Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree
whose fruit I commanded you not to eat,
the ground is cursed because of you.
All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it.
It will grow thorns and thistles for you,
though you will eat of its grains.
By the sweat of your brow
will you have food to eat
until you return to the ground
from which you were made.
For you were made from dust,
and to dust you will return.” – Genesis chapter 3
We all have problems
And so today, because sin came into the hearts and mind of all men, we all have problems in our lives. And sometimes God sends problems our way to test our faith. God is not sending these difficulties and tests into our lives to destroy us, He is sending these tests into our lives to make our lives stronger and to build our faith.
God told Abraham to: “Take your son, your only son—yes, Isaac, whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah. Go and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will show you.” – Genesis chapter 22
God tested Abraham and Abraham’s faith became stronger even though Abraham was ready to sacrifice his own son if this is what God wanted.
Joseph was tested when his brothers took him and threw him into a pit out in the fields and then sold him as a slave and sent him away to Egpyt where he became a slave and was thrown into prison. Let’s listen to what happened to Joseph and how
God made Joseph’s faith stronger:
“Then he sent someone to Egypt ahead of them—
Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
They bruised his feet with fetters
and placed his neck in an iron collar.
Until the time came to fulfill his dreams,
the Lord tested Joseph’s character.
Then Pharaoh sent for him and set him free;
the ruler of the nation opened his prison door.
Joseph was put in charge of all the king’s household;
he became ruler over all the king’s possessions.
He could instruct the king’s aides as he pleased
and teach the king’s advisers.” – Psalm 105
The prophet Jeremiah was tested when
“So the officials took Jeremiah from his cell and lowered him by ropes into an empty cistern in the prison yard. It belonged to Malkijah, a member of the royal family. There was no water in the cistern, but there was a thick layer of mud at the bottom, and Jeremiah sank down into it.” – Jeremiah 38
Jeremiah continued to trust in the Lord and to deliver the messages that God gave him for the people.
And Job was tested very severely. God allowed Satan to attack Job’s family and kill all his children, destroy all his houses, steal all his animals, and even make Job sick to the point of death. “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.” Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.” – Job chapter 1
In all this Job did not sin. He kept his faith in God.
Maybe some of you have been tested as severely as Job was. Maybe you too have lost all your family, all that you own, everything that you had. Maybe you too are sick, very sick, and everyone has deserted you and left you alone.
There is hope
I am here to tell you the Good News. There is hope. You are not alone. God has not deserted. No matter how dark it gets, no matter how alone you feel, God will never leave you. You may feel alone; but you are not alone. You may feel like there is no hope; but there is hope. God cares for you and God loves you.
There is hope. The light of God is still shining in the darkness. The whisper of God is still in the air and He is saying to you “I love you and I care for you – trust in me.” God is with you. There is a flickering candle telling you that God is still alive and ready to help. With what little strength you have call upon God.
Let’s pray together about it:
“God! Our lives are very difficult.
We have many problems and we feel like giving up.
We have no strength left and all our hope is gone.
“The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.”
God help us in our misery and despair.
The sky is clear but our lives are covered in darkness.
The sun is shining but there is constant rain falling down upon us.
The air is still but there is storm blowing inside of us.
God where are you?
God I am calling out to you?
God I need you.
God – come to my aid.
And help me. I need your help O God – I need you now.”
God is with you
Call upon the name of the Lord and you will be saved. No matter how tired you are, not matter how sick you are, no matter how many family members you have lost to war – God still loves you, God still cares.
I want you to know that you are not alone. I want you to know that God is just a thought away, He is just a breath away, He is just a word away. This is what it means that God is so near He is even in your mouth – because when you call upon His name and ask Him for help He will arrive and do amazing things.
“”The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart.”
So call upon the name of the Lord and you will be saved. God will save you from your fears and trials and give you peace in your heart and soul . He will help you because He is an ever present help in times of trouble.