God Is Good All the Time

I often wonder where God is when I am going through a struggle.  We have been going through the book of James at church...and the 2nd verse of the book says to "Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness."

Seriously?  Count it all joy? 

Well, I am being tested...and I have been having a hard time being joyful about it.  But praise be to God!  He is actually helping me find the joy.  Every day, I see just a little more of Him and less of me.  I see His hand on my life and the life of my family.  When I allow Him to lead me, I am actually at peace in the very mundane tasks of everyday life.  Only a few months ago, I was so concerned about not having that extra income that we absolutely "needed."  But the more I pray about it and release control to Him, the more He blesses my soul. 

He has been preparing me for a while to go down this road of staying at home with my children full time.  And I am so eternally grateful that He led me down this path.  My heart has yearned desperately to be at home with them.  I just always thought that we "needed" that extra little income.  Well, the extra money is nice...but do we spend it wisely?  Probably not.  Thankfully, God has been preparing me and teaching me about depending more on Him.  So I have learned to be a little more frugal...and am learning more every day!  Of course, I didn't see those things a few months ago.  I also didn't see that my life would be so crazy with doctors and illness and sheer exhaustion over these last few weeks.  But God saw it coming...He prepared a way for me to be able to handle all of the busyness.  If I had been working that part-time job, I never would have been able to manage all of it. 

Even when we don't even know it, God is good all the time.  And for that, I am so thankful that He knows my needs so much better than I do!