Difficult Times

One of our teachers is facing a sudden, serious health crisis and once again our school family is facing another trial. As I prayed with our principal last night about sharing this difficult news with our faculty, I called upon the Lord to give us wisdom and the right words to say to our faculty. One of my favorite passages in the Bible is from Romans 8: 28-39.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. So much comfort here...my friend is a child of the King, so I know He has a plan for this trial in her life and the plan will be for her good because she serves Him faithfully.
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response to this? As His children, we are constantly being conformed to the image of His Son. There is no better "conformity tool" than the trials of life. Please pray for the Christians on our faculty that God would so allow us to walk through this difficult time with our friend to glorify Him to our faculty that do not have a personal relationship with Him.

If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Enough said! How quickly I forget this. My God never sleeps, He is never caught off guard, everything that comes into my life has been sifted through loving and merciful hands. Knowing all this, can I not trust Him will all of my life?

Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Not only that, Jesus sits at my Father's side and pleads His blood for me with the power of His resurrection!

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. Nothing is too hard for my God!

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Amen and amen!