The Lord Gives.....working towards deliverance

Tonight at my young couples Bible study, one of the questions concerning our exploration of ecclesiastes was "Can you think of a time where you didn't feel like God was there, that He had let a bad thing happen?" The obvious answer is yes, so much of a resounding yes that I could not count the emotional memories connected to that question.
One of the guys that attends our bible study spoke up with a story I've heard before, that his grandfather was terminally ill with emphasima (sp?) during his college years, and then ended up dying. My friend said that the only saving grace that allowed this guy to keep his faith was that his grandfather was allowed to die at home in his own bed, surrounded by family. But even just the debilitating disease affecting the person my friend looked up to the most had an effect upon his faith. Though his grandfather was a devout catholic and was not bitter; the "why did this happen to a good man" question still lives in my friend's heart and soul. And not in a...safe, comforting way, like with time and perspective, or even just acceptance without understanding, he and his faith have grown. In a grudge-holding, hurt kind of way, and his relationship with God is handicapped because of it.

A similar thing happened to my father when he was in his twenties. His favorite and most respected friend, his grandfather, died. In that moment, my dad disowned his God. Not decided that God didn't exist, but rather that the God that did had no mercy for those who deserved it.

For years, he shouted at God, bitter and in pain about the death.

One day. In a church for the first time in years, with his new girlfriend who insisted that it was going to be with God or without her, my dad broke down in tears. I have never seen my dad cry in all of my life; not through pain, not through the birth of his children, not in joy. My mom says he bawled like a baby in the back of that church. And he saw his God again, not as the stranger and sinful being he had created God to be in his mind, but for who He is, and was, and is to come. A Just, Merciful, Grace-filled, Omnipotent God.

God did not kill either grandfather. Nor did He let either one die in an act of apathy.

Everything works together for the good of those who love him. As a pastor at my church would say "God always works towards deliverance." Though we cannot see it, though we cannot understand it, though it seems nonsensical to us, the everyday events of this world are always working towards deliverance. Evil still exists, and bad things happen because of our original choice in the garden and our choices now as sinful human beings, but God does prevail. He will always weave the events and relationships together for the good.

My friend and my dad demonstrate two ways to react to the sorrow that life may bring. One recovered his faith, and realized that God will give, and God will take away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Though he slay me, yet I shall trust in Him.