TRIALS INTO TESTIMONY
Several years ago a young man by the name of Bruce Goodrich was being initiated into the cadet corps at Texas A & M University. One night, Bruce was forced to run until he dropped…and he never got up. Bruce Goodrich died before he even entered college. A short time after the tragedy, Bruce’s father wrote a letter to the administration, faculty, student body, and the corps of cadets. One part of Mr. Goodrich’s letter really stood out, “I hope it will be some comfort to know that we harbor no ill will in the matter. We know our God makes no mistakes. Bruce had an appointment with his Lord and is now secure in his celestial home. When the question is asked, ‘Why did this happen?’ perhaps one answer will be, ‘So that many will consider where they will spend eternity.'”
What an exceptional attitude! Their son has just died because he was forced to run far beyond the limits of his body. The Goodrich family very easily could have caused serious problems for the cadet corps, but they chose not to. Instead, the Goodrich family took a step back, trusted in the Lord, and pointed others to Him as well.
It is so sad to see people blame, curse, and turn away from God in the midst of tough situations and tragedies. Certainly the Goodrich family’s attitude was the right one. We will be faced with tragedies and calamities in life as well. In reality, we do not know why such horrific things happen to people, but we certainly should not blame, curse, and turn away from God. Let’s keep in mind Isaiah 55:9, where God said, “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thought than your thoughts.”
When we are faced with the death of a loved one and people begin to ask, “Why did this happen?” hopefully we too can answer as Mr. Goodrich did, “So that people might consider where they will spend eternity.” If we have everything taken away from us and people begin to ask, “Why did this happen?” hopefully we can answer as Job did, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:12). If we are persecuted or even killed in the name of Christ, hopefully we can have Paul’s attitude, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21). When we are faced with any difficult issue in this life, hopefully our answers will be ones that give glory to God, and never bring dishonor His name.
In all of the troubles we face in this life, let’s take our trials and turn them into a testimony for God.
–Brett Petrillo