Recently, I received the news that a friend is now dealing with the devastation of a cancer diagnosis. I know the emotional toll news such as this causes on a family.

I know how it feels to sit alone in a crowded room and wonder how a good God could allow such pain to afflict his faithful children, fully aware of the fact that his own aren’t immune to the struggles of this life. Yet we still wrestle with the, “Why?”

A grieving father once said that life is short and full of many troubles (Job 14:1). And his story, which may be one of the oldest in the Bible, was written for our benefit.

To show us that even in the thickest of grief, we don’t walk this world alone nor do we have the capability to fully understand the one who knit this world together.

Too often we focus on what we don’t know. We critique and meditate matters, that if given too much time, can make us stumble and lose heart. But thank God for that which we do know. For it’s in those truths that we find hope.

I don’t know a lot about this world, but I do know that even in the darkest of night when all looks lost, God has not deserted us (Hebrews 13:5).

– I know that he is not only a God of then and there, but a God of here and now. – I know that we’re in a spiritual war with Evil and the enemy will stop at nothing to destroy our faith even if means destroying our earthly bodies. – I know that the God of Heaven and Earth stills our soul, makes our paths straight, is slow to anger, and abounding in love (Psalm 103:8). – I know he is our refuge and strength in a place that desperately tries to overcome us (Deuteronomy 33:27, Psalm 46: 1-2), and I know that he has overcome this world (John 16:33). – I know the bride of Christ will continue the revolution of love because his power lives through her regardless of how men may try to taint her (Ephesians 5:23). – I know there is a place being prepared for us and even though the one who prepares it knows of its peacefulness, comfort, and tearless landscape, and that we are better off once we enter there, he still weeps alongside us (John 11:35). – I know trials are temporary and fears are fleeting but we will never be separated from the love of God (Romans 8:38-39). – I know this world is not our home but a catalyst for something bigger, something greater, and something eternal. – I know words such as inoperable, terminal, and death are always trumped by the words faith, hope, and love. – I know there will come a day when he will wipe away all tears (Revelations 21:4).

What we don’t know about this life could fill volumes, but it’s in the certainties of what we do know that offers us the strength to face each day.

Even through the darkness, focus on what you know. It will take you to Heaven.

–by Paula Harrington @ www.forthright.net