In Times of Trials

*This was previously written this past January, but only now posted.*

In times of trials, pain and tribulation, humans have a tendency to do one of two things:

1. Turn to God
   
2. Blame God
   

Those that turn to God can seek his peace and understanding. They are able to better grapple with the terror of what they have just endured. But those who blame God find bitterness and hate. They struggle with their inner desires to have everything fixed and to be able to have a definitive reason why this happened.

My heart is crying for Haiti today. The disaster that literally shook their foundations has left a needy country in even greater need. I am reminded how good Americans have it. Even in our dark hours, like after the hurricanes, we have resources that are within the country and (as a whole) a government that doesn't tuck tail and disappear.

When hurricane Katrina struck the bayous of the Southeast, people were killed, homes were lost, lives were forever changed. But now, five years later, the New Orleans Saints have a Super Bowl contention (which they won!),
people are living normal lives, buildings are re-built and life has continued forward, much due to the compassion of fellow countrymen coming alongside and lending a hand where they could. In Haiti, no one is seeking to serve, they are seeking to survive. Aid services are being warned of looters and possibly violent people who are just trying to meet their basic survival needs. The government officials are nowhere to be found, leaving the people on their own.

My quiet times currently have me reading Job. I've read it before, knowing that Job was chosen because of his love and dedication to God. Satan challenges that it is only because God has so greatly blessed Job that he serves him. To prove otherwise, Satan is allowed to wreck some havoc. Job loses his children, his livestock, even his own health. And yet, "in all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing." (Job 1:22, TNIV)

Job acknowledged that God had the right to allow these things to happen to him. Was he happy about it? No, of course not. Job was actually very vocal about how much he hated what he was going through, but he did not sin by cursing God because of it.

**Side note, I wanted to go ahead and post this, despite being almost 6 months after it was written, because the post I am currently writing ties in directly and can give a little more credence to trusting God in times of tribulation.**