"If God exists, why did he give my dad cancer? If God exists, why is there famine?..."
I have heard these things asked by many people many times. It seems logical sometimes. Even as a Christian, I ask "What?" and "What if?" more times than I would like to admit. But despite all of the questioning and difficulty, I have come to realize that God has a plan for everyone and a reason behind the plan.
When you are approaching your 20s, it is normal to have every second of your life "planned" out to the best of your ability. From your school and major to the wedding cake you have picked out on Pinterest for your non-existent wedding, your plan will never be as fulfilled as giving your plans up to God. It is scary, but as Christians, how will we be able to say we follow God if we do not follow his intended path for us?
In September, my dad was diagnosed with cancer, a traumatic and devastating circumstance that I would not wish upon anyone. But as I was 347 miles away from home, I had no other option than to revisit my relationship with God. God may have placed a very stressful situation upon my family, but he only used that to draw us closer to him as a family. As the future seemed uncertain (but hopeful) for my dad for a while, my family was able to find strength in knowing that God had a plan for not only my dad but our family as a whole. (But let it be noted that with our trust in God, my dad is now in remission. Yay!)
God is our creator and savior. he does not seek to harm us. But as pain overwhelms you and you feel as if your world is crashing down, he uses that to urge us back into his plan for us. He didn't pick me up off of my feet after thinking about the "what ifs" of my dad just for me to succumb to the stresses again. I chose to trust God. That's the beauty in trust. There are many obstacles that are placed in front of you, but they are placed there meticulously and carefully. You just have to learn to trust that they were placed there with no intention to harm you.
We cannot just put our faith in God, we must also continue to trust him. If you could see what his plan for your life in its entirety, you would be amazed. All of the things you have and will accomplish, the lives that you have and will continue to impact, and the places you will go and also leave. It's amazing to know that God has it all planned out for you, but the difficult part in faith is being able to succumb to his plan without knowing what the plan is. That's what faith is.
Faith is about instinctively believing. That's the beautiful thing about it. Being tentative about trusting in him completely is normal. Being afraid of failure or getting hurt is also normal. But, every obstacle you encounter is just molding you into the person that God meant you to be. It is important to let God guide you through this chaotic life we all tend to live. God wants nothing but success for you; I promise he does, I have seen it with my dad.
"Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" -- Romans 5:3-5
