God's Faithfulness is Not Dependent on Our Circumstances<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Ray Baumann
 
If you were to get your theology from what you heard on TV and the popular books in the Christian bookstore you would believe that God desires to bless your life and everyone else's. Believe it or not, God's faithfulness is not dependent on our circumstances. When it rains in your neighborhood it has nothing to do with God's unfaithfulness in your life. Christians have to realize that God never changes. He is still on the throne no matter what life throws at you.
 
Four months ago my family went through a season of uncertainty that caused us to see God's true faithfulness in a very dark time.
 
A normal summer day consists of many kids playing in the cul-de-sac where we live. Typically, four of those kids in that group are my own. One summer day after lunch, while the kids were riding bikes, my ten year-old son slipped and fell off his bike. Upon first inspection he looked fine; there were no real outward signs of injury. We helped him inside the house and he spent the rest of the evening and night on our living room couch. The next day he was still in pain but never shed a tear. He was taking the pain like a man. All the while I figured he was just bruised from the fall. As the day progressed he was still in pain and was not showing any improvement. We decided to take him to the emergency room. Even while we were walking into the hospital I figured they would give us a prescription and go home. I was, in fact, very wrong.
 
At the registration table the nurse tried to take my son's blood pressure. It was at that moment I started to think that this visit might be a little more serious than expected. While attempting to take his vitals, the nurse was not even able to find my son's pulse. Immediately they rushed him away. While I finished filling out the mound of paperwork I noticed many people rushing around in an organized effort to attend to my son. My heart raced with anticipation and I tried to wrap my mind around the uncertainty of his condition. By the time I finally got to back to my son they had him strapped into a stretcher and were preparing to transport him via helicopter to a children's hospital in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />St. Louis.
 
As they were taking him out, we stopped and prayed. In that prayer I recognized that God is never out of control and that through this situation, may Jesus be glorified. As they loaded him into the helicopter I turned to my wife and said, "God is in control." With our son now out of our hands the realization of how helpless we really were sank in and our total dependence on Christ had to begin.
 
You don't know how strong your faith is until it is tested. God had prepared us for this season in our lives. Our view of God's love was not dependent on our situation. If this had happened five or ten years previous I would have questioned God. I would have been the first to blow up the balloons for my own pity party because I had bought into a man-centered theology that put me and my needs first and my plans before God's. I would have thought that I deserved better and that God owed me for my years of service to Him. I could not see past my own situation. I would be quick to give God praise during the good times but would be silent during the bad times. In reality, Gods love for me had never changed.
 
Knowing God's plan and what he values changes your whole perspective. God's one mission is drawing people closer to Him. It seems that in tragedy it speaks louder than in any other time.
 
Getting to the hospital that night, my wife and I had a clear view of who Christ was in our lives. He is our savior and what He did on the cross 2000 years ago is all He would ever have to do to show His love for us.
 
Our son had severed his small intestine and bruised his pancreas from the fall off his bike. Infection had filled his body and by the time we got him to the hospital he was in very bad shape. Five days in the PICU and 21 total days in the hospital did not go to waste. My wife and I constantly shared our hope in Christ during this tough time. It was truly where the rubber met the road, it was sink or swim, time to put up or shut up. We had no other option but to stand firm on Christ our solid rock. Our faith was not built on God's blessings in our lives but on the truth of the Word. This was the main reason why we didn't fold like a cheap table under the pressure of the circumstances.
 
Trials are intended to stretch our faith and the faith of those around us. Not only is the trial yours to go through, but it is yours to be used to give God the glory throughout the situation.  
 
While many people where praying for him, our son recovered nicely and got back to his regular routine. It seems like I've repeated the story of his accident a thousand times, but I keep giving praise for his healing and always note that if he wasn't healed that doesn't change who God is in our lives. I continue to reiterate that God had a plan through this whole ordeal to draw people to him.
 
Four months later while giving the testimony to a group of men I received a call that my son was having stomach pains and needed to go to the ER. My flesh thought, "Oh great, not again," but my spirit realized that God was again in control and whatever storm came our way we would continue to give Him praise because these earthly events are nothing compared to our eternity and those around us that aren't saved. 
 
Sure enough, surgery was required again. Another eight days in the hospital and another hospital bill. But more importantly, it meant more opportunities to share Christ. We had to ask ourselves, "Is this life really more valuable than our eternity with our savior? Do we have the right to question the methods that God uses to draw people to him?" Trials really seem like a non-issue when you understand that someone's eternity could be altered though our seemingly sad situation. 
Trials have many purposes. These are times that God humbles us, focuses our attention on eternal things, reveals the objects of our love and enables us to help others in their trials. Look at what James says. He is concerned with primarily one reason God sends trials: to test the genuineness of our faith. The question that James really answers is, "How can our faith endure any trial and remain standing?"
It just so happened that our adult Sunday school was going through the book of James. Wow, does James let you have it! He basically says, "If you say you believe why don't you behave like you should?" James was able to answer some of life's tough questions.
Why did I have a joyous attitude during the situation? "Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials." James 1:2 NASB
How was I able to have proper understanding during this situation? "Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance." James 1:3 NASB
It's God's will over my will. "Let endurance have its perfect result, that ye may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:4 NASB
My wife and I are by no means perfect, but I believe that our understanding of God's character and what is most important is what enabled us to have the right perspective through the storm. It's not whether or not if it will storm, it's when the storm comes that you know if you have built your house on the rock that cannot be shaken.
 
Everyone will go through trials of different magnitudes but if you put your full trust in Christ the events of this world are temporal. As Christians we must value the eternal things. In the right perspective God remains the same in every situation.
 
Proverbs 3:5-7 says, "Trust in the Lord with all of your heart, and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your path straight. Be not wise in your own eyes." When you're going through a trial, you must put your faith in God's wisdom and not in your own limited understanding.