God is with you and He is for you

Life can be hard. There are days where things go bad. Sometimes, it seems like whole weeks, months, and seasons go by without a single day going right. I have had weeks where everything I touch breaks. I remember one week in particular when I turned on the A/C and three units broke, I used the copier and it broke, and we had 4 ballasts for lights burn out. It really felt like I broke everything I touched. At home, that same week, my weed eater would not start, my tree trimming shears snapped (how do metal cutters snap when cutting wood?), and my refrigerator’s ice maker broke. In all, to fix those things, it totaled somewhere around $10,000. And then, that same week, I came out of my house to find that someone had crushed in my car door… I remember asking God what I was doing wrong, and why this was happening.
Sometimes, these things happen. It reminds me of Job. Sometimes, terrible stuff just happens. What is critical in these times is how we respond: do we do like Job? Or do we respond like Job’s friends? Or is there another way?
Job held to the fact that he had done nothing wrong, but that God was still punishing him. Job’s friends told him he had done wrong and that he needed to figure out what it was. In the end, God corrected both lines of thinking, and when Job quit worrying about all of that, he was restored beyond what he could comprehend.
That is what happened for me after that terrible week. We got a new copier, then the A/C guys came out to fix our units, and I was blessed to lead 3 men to Jesus. I prayed for my weed eater and it began to work. I bought a new pair of clippers to cut limbs with. My insurance paid for my car door, and I got to drive an amazing luxury rental in the meantime. An electrician blessed our church with 10 ballasts and changed them all out for us, for free. The only thing that didn’t get taken care of was my ice maker- which I don’t need.
In the end, I found that God was with me the whole time. He loves me, and wants me to have great things. He provided for our church and my home. We got upgrades of everything, and saw people’s lives changed from encountering His great love.
These testimonies help me in times where everything seems to be falling apart to not lose hope, to not allow stress to overwhelm me, and to stay close to God. Isaiah 41:10 says, “So do not fear, for I am with you: do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
God is with you, in the good times and the bad times. But it’s more than Him just being with you. He is for you. He wants to come in and rescue you, to provide for you, to meet your needs. He cares about what you care about- He knows the desires of your heart; He tells us to cast our cares upon Him. Don’t lose hope. Don’t allow that bad stuff that happens to you to take away your hope, faith, and love. God loves you, He is with you, and He is for you. ​