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Bed of roses


People can never predict when hard times might come
Eccl:9:12

Very many think, Christian life would be a life of ease. The King of all kings, the Lord of Lords is by your side. He is Jehovah Jireh - the provider God. All His riches are yours. Life is going to be a cake walk. At least many in their early Christian life hopes and thinks it is going to be a bed of roses. 
But roses always have thorns. And when these thorns prick you, you tend to wonder why. Plucked out of your grandeous expectations of comfortable life, you are confused. May be it is your lack of faith. You pray harder. You ascertain your faith rather aggressively. You proclaim your faith. You tell it out loud, what you believe. You fast and pray. You request others to pray for you. You confess unconfessed sins. You remember to give alms. (All these are imperative in Christian life. Don't get me wrong) 
You try everything to prove that God is good. But the thorn prick continues. 
Now you are more discouraged. You have tried everything, but still it is not happening - the deliverance, the freedom. Then you doubt. Am I really saved? Is my faith genuine? Slowly you question God and indifferently you drift farther from God than before. 

All this happens because of the lack of proper understanding of hardships. 
John:16:33 In this world you will have trouble. But take heart. I have overcome the world. 
Why? The very Jesus has promised only thorn pricks and stumbling blocks and ups and downs, hills and craters, crests and troughs. 
Everything changes.The only unchanging thing that is a guarantee is His presence. Paul prayed three times about a thorn in his flesh. And it was because he had that thorn, that he learnt a huge truth. My grace is sufficient for you. 

The bed of roses is a reality. Yet it is not as we think. It is God's grace, God's overarching presence in our lives. That,  no matter what the circumstances are - He will not leave me nor forsake me. That His grace is enough. 
If this reality has sunk in our hearts, we will always come back to His bosom. We will have problems always. But through it all, we are sure that God is in control and He will work everything for good. Amen

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