I see each life event as either a test or a reward. The trick is not to panic when tested, not to feel guilty when blessed and not to be selfish in between.
The best way to cut God out of your life is to see events as random occurrences. If there is no reason WHY it happened and no reason FOR it to happen then God becomes irrelevant.
We often don’t know why something bad/good happened the way it did.
POSSIBILITIES:
1. You did something really smart/stupid.
2. Somebody did something nice/mean to/for you.
3. The world is a fallen place full of pain and some of it landed on you.
4. There is a Satan and he managed to get to you somehow.
5. God has a lot of grace and you got some big time.
6. You have great/lousy faith and it made a difference.
The point is that many times we don’t know why something happened the way it did. The best way to drive yourself crazy is to try and figure it all out. FLASH: we don’t know everything. The Bible says we see things through a dark glass (1 Corinthians 13:12). That means we may see some things but we don’t have a clear picture.
So…
The best way to deal with events is to face them AFTER they happen. After all, it’s hard to face events before they happen, now isn’t it?
If it’s a challenging experience, treat it as a test and trust God like never before (1 Peter 1:7). Rely on His word. One of the most common Bible phrases is “it came to pass.” It WILL pass. Trust God. Learn something from it. Expect something good to come out of it when you pass the test.
If it’s a great/cool/enjoyable experience, receive it from God with gratitude. God is a rewarder (Hebrews 11:6). That’s His nature. He likes giving to you just as much as you like giving to your kids.
In between times remember, it’s not all about you. It never is.
