WITH GOD ALL THINGS HAVE A PURPOSE

I was just thinking that statement a minute ago, and I believe that it applies to a vulnerable church. If we believe that with God, all things have a purpose, then we are more able to be vulnerable with each other.

Here was my thought process: I was looking out the window at the sad trees and flowers. They are sad because they are cold because its 23 degrees outside. We're having a cold snap for several days. And I hear all the people on the news saying that its wrong for it to go back to being this cold, and that we may loose all of the apple crop for the year. But God doesn't do wrong things. And I wonder if the weather was touched by the fall of man - I kinda don't think so; so I don't think the weather is tainted by sin. And I was thinking about how there has traditionally been a lot of forest fires out west, and then with civilization, the fires were decreased a good bit. Well this caused major damage to the plants and animals eventually, because God created the world so that an occasional fire made everything die and start over and therefore grow better. When this doesn't happen then the plants don't thrive and the animals run out of things to eat. So what may seem "bad" in the form of a fire or a cold front, is probably not bad at all - its probably needed to help the growth of everything. Can we humans maybe learn a lesson from this? That what seems "bad" may not be bad at all but instead vital to our growth?

But I don't want you to hear me saying to buck up and have faith and not be hurt by hard things. Hard things hurt. Period. So grieve. But grieve with hope, knowing our Father knows best.