Friends,

Life throws all manner of curves at us. This weekend, I'd like to share a post from a blog I follow - A Widow's Might. It encouraged me afresh and I believe it can encourage you. The circumstances I pray aren't the same for you, but the learning from the story applies to any circumstance we may find ourselves. In all things, God is Still Good!

Still Good

by Erika Graham

By our dear sister, Erin Patz

“But God, I’m so young.”

“But God, I didn’t plan it like this.”

“But God, I never imagined planning a wedding and a funeral within the same year.”

I had a lot of, “but God…” moments after my husband passed away in 2013. He was the one who was with Jesus and I was the one still on this earth, even though part of me felt like I died that day too. Being a twenty-four year old widow was never part of my plan. It’s not part of any widow’s plan.

How confident was I in God’s ability to save me? In Daniel chapter 3, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were so confident in God’s ability. They refused to worship the gods King Nebuchadnzzar served. King Nebuchadnzzar told them if they were unwilling, they would be cast into a blazing furnace.

“If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you set up.”  Daniel 3: 16-18

They were thrown in the furnace and were unharmed. They were so confident in God’s ability. They knew God was fully capable of saving them, but they also knew that even if He didn’t,

He was still good. 

God reminded me that no matter how many “but God” moments I had, He was still good. He reminded me that even though it felt like part of me died when my husband died, I was still on this earth and I needed to live and praise Him. It didn’t matter that I was twenty-four years oldand only married ten months. It didn’t matter that being a young widow was never in my plans. It didn’t matter that I was so broken and felt so lost. It didn’t matter how much I tried to shake my fist and question God. It didn’t matter how hurt and angry I was. He was still good.

“But God, I’m so young.” – But I am still good.

“But God, I didn’t plan it like this.” – But I am still good.

“But God, I never imagined planning a wedding and a funeral within the same year.” – But I am still good.

God was (and is) still worthy of my praise.

I realized that my plans did not match up with God’s plans, but that was okay because He knows what He’s doing. He knows the beginning, middle, and end of my story, where I only can see the here and now. And He remains good through it all. I had to be constantly reminded that God gives and takes, and He needs to be praised either way.

We want our prayers answered. We want those we love to remain healthy and happy. But if that doesn’t happen, will you believe that He is still good? Will you continue to trust Him?

I know it’s hard and difficult. I know it’s messy and complicated. I know it’s dark and painful. And I know because I’ve been there. I know the feeling of being so broken you have absolutely no idea how God can piece you back together.

But He can.

And I know that believing He is still good is completely worth it. Believing He was still good was such a tough process for my mangled heart. But through the death of my husband I started to truly live. I have experienced God’s faithfulness and love in a truer, deeper, and more intimate way.

I don’t deserve how much God has blessed me and I’m not entitled to anything. It’s been a process, but my “but God” moments have slowly been replaced by “and if not, He is still good” moments. I will never understand everything on this earth, but God does. He sees the full picture and through it all, He is still good.

Now two years later, I’m amazed to see how God has transformed my heart and my life. He has remained good through all my “but God moments” and He continues to slowly, painfully, and divinely piece me back together.

God called my husband home and in a painful process of grief and growth, I found that He really is still good.

Generation G

I've spent these last two weeks with a younger generation and I have been reminded again of the difference the Internet and technology have made in the way of life of the  current generation compared to ours.

G is for Google. I sometimes teach small businesses how to use IT to enhance their businesses and one of the things I say to them is that there isn't any question you type into google that you won't find an answer to. There's nothing new under the sun. Whatever you are thinking, someone else has thought about it sometime before.

The thing that struck me most is the fact that in our days, we looked up to our parents especially to learn about the big bad world out there. We looked up to people older and more experienced than us to help navigate life as we grew up gradually. That isn't the case with the current generation G.

Generation G believes they know more than their elders because they've searched the Internet and have read all sorts of things therein. Generation G believes my generation is operating under old fashioned thinking when it doesn't confirm to what they've read from their google searches.

The downside to this trend is that the Internet is full of writings by every Tom, Dick and Harry who has access to a computer. This is made particularly clear to me when I read medical stuff. For every medical topic out there, you will find articles and writings that support opposite sides of the same topic. For example, There will be people claiming eggs are the best thing for you and they will quote research and all sorts of statistics to back their claim. You will equally find as many people claiming eggs are the worst thing for you. They also have their stats and research to back them up.

Bottom line, we can find research and articles to support anything we want to support from the Internet. It's up to each person to apply some bit of common sense and seek knowledge from people with experience to enable you find the truth of a situation. The other side to the coin also is that everything in life is relative. What is good for the goose isn't necessarily good for the gander. What is good for the goose at 12 may not be good for it at 24.

No matter how far we advance technologically, we must recognize the place and value of experience. People who have lived where you live can give you a more relevant analysis of a situation and counsel that is more suited to your situation. Information on the Internet is also context and culture specific. One brush can't be used to paint for the entire world. Everyone writes from the perspective of their culture and environment.

It's also a call to our generation and older to step up and be aware of what's going on in cyberspace. We must educate ourselves so that we can counter wrong thinking when we come across it. We can't counter simply based on our past experience. We must be able to say we've seen this or read this and this is why it isn't right or it is. No one is going to accept counsel or instruction from us blindly anymore. Those days are gone.

Here's to Generation G! Long live the World Wide Web.