I'm coming out!

It's worth repeating from 2 Corinthians 7:9, "You let the distress bring you to God, not drive you from him. The result was all gain, no loss."

Distress has a special way of bringing out our true colors, and exposing our coping methods (Spider Solitaire, anyone?). Trials and stress also have a way of showing how much we trust God. Will we trust Him even when life is not going the way we thought it would? Will we turn and run toward Him when pain breaks our happy bubble or will we let our questions and doubts turn into bitterness and despair?

When we run toward God and trust Him completely even when our world is falling apart, we may not be able to see anything good happening at all... We may not see the end of our trial, but God does... and when we turn to Him the results from our trials are ALL GAIN!!

This passage in 2 Corinthians continues in verses 10-13, "Distress that drives us to God does that. It turns us around. It gets us back in the way of salvation. We never regret that kind of pain... And now, isn't it wonderful all the ways in which this distress has goaded you closer to God? You're more alive, more concerned, more sensitive, more reverent, more human, more passionate, more responsible. Looked at from any angle, you've come out of this with purity of heart." (emphasis mine)

The truth is trials will pass. How you come out of them is your choice. Will you let your trial bring you closer to God? Or will you let it be another reason you won't trust Him completely?

My prayer is that when I come out of trials (and I will come out!), I will come out with a pure heart... that's what I long for... a heart like God's heart.

Blessings!