by Angela Moreno

Today I read some disheartening news. I follow a Christian blogger whom I have grown very fond of. She was letting us know that she would be taking the rest of the summer off so she could take care of a personal problem. Her husband had been having an extra-marital affair; she had known about it for the last 18 months and he had chosen to continue the affair even though he had been forgiven by his wife and the couple had attended many counseling sessions to fix their marriage. After much prayer and counseling, she had chosen to end her 25-year marriage.

My heart goes out to her. This blogger has thousands and thousands of followers. My heart also tells me that there is at least one person out there thinking “why would God allow this to happen to her when she so faithfully preaches his word?” and someone is a little disheartened by this whole event. I think someone may have lost a little faith in God. Not everyone is mature in their relationship with God and understands why these things happen.

Everyone of us lives in a spiritual battle. God loves us all and wants each one of us to come to Him freely. Satan does not want you to accept the offer of grace that God gives us through His Son Jesus. He will do everything in his power to see you fail. He will bring obstacles into your life to test your faith and try to get you to turn away from the goodness of God.

Jesus warned us that we would face problems in our lives.  He said in John 16:33b: Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world. None of us will be immune to trials and sorrow. Each one of us will face some test of our faith at some point. How we endure is what strengthens our relationship with God and build our faith.

Our trials and suffering help cement our relationship with God. We build our strength and our faith during these tough times where we have to fully rely on God. The Bible gives us many verses on this very subject:

• 1 Peter 4:12-13: Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.
• 1 Peter 1:6-7: So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.
• James 1:2-3: Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.  For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.

During this time, your Heavenly Father will never leave your side. He will be there for you no matter what. Turn to Him and let Him heal your broken heart.

• Psalm 55:22: Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall.
• Isaiah 41:10: Don’t be afraid, for I am with you. Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand.
• Psalm 34:19: The righteous person faces many troubles,but the Lord comes to the rescue each time.

Remember that God isn’t mad at you and He isn’t allowing situations to happen to you as a punishment. Don’t let hardships harm your relationship with God; use the situation to bring you closer to Him. The blogger I talked about earlier, she plans on using this situation to bring her closer to God. If she can forgive and lean on her Heavenly Father, so can we.

Don’t forget to add her to your prayer list. Also add her readers who may be discouraged by this event happening to her. In the end, this will all be used to glorify God.