Rain on Our Parade

Some of you may know that I am reading The Ragamuffin Gospel for a Bible study at my church.

One quote that we discussed last week was:

"The child of the Father rejects the pastel colored patsy God who promises never to rain on our parade."

My interpretation of this quote is that many times, we think that if we accept God into our lives, everything will be perfect. God does not promise that. I've experienced plenty of trials after accepting Christ and I know many others who have as well.

I downloaded iOS 7 on my iPhone yesterday and afterwards, I was playing around with my phone when I opened the YouVersion Bible app and it said to read Job 1. Out of nowhere I decided to read it. You know how you just hear God telling you to do something?

So I read the Message version of Job 1.

At one point, Satan says to God, "You pamper [Job] like a pet, make sure nothing bad ever happens to him or his family or his possessions, bless everything he does—he can’t lose!"
- Job 1:10(MSG)

Satan is questioning the authenticity of Job's relationship with God. He thinks that if everything goes wrong, Job will curse God.

So then God allows Satan to challenge Job through many trials.

The reason I point all of this out is that the Christian life is by far not perfect. We may not always understand why we are going through struggles, but in the end, we may realize how God transformed us and strengthened us throughout. Once you accept Christ, you may have many struggles, but know that God never leaves you nor forsakes you. Struggles are part of the human condition, but by the grace of God we can overcome those trials.