We had a big rain storm here in Edmonton on Saturday night. There was a lot of thunder and the ground got a good soaking. The rain, coupled with our Sunday School class got me thinking about life. We have been going through Genesis in our Sunday School class and just finished chapter 8. This is where the flood waters receded and the ark settled on the mountain.

I began to think about what the world would have looked like for Noah after the waters dissipated? How would things have changed? Would the rivers be as they were? Would the mountains and hills still be the same? Would the flora have changed with all the water? How would life be different?

The closest thing we’ve experienced here in Alberta, at least since I’ve lived here, was the flood of 2013. It devastated communities and caused billions in damage. Businesses were lost. Homes were washed away as were many roads and highways. Rivers changed course, many farms and their animals were lost. Lives were changed…

When things like this happen, many people will ask “Why?” As Christians, when we go through adversity and trials, we too will ask God, “Why?” To understand, we first need to go to the Bible in order to get some wisdom and perspective on things.

I think how we respond begins with how we see God. Do we see Him as our loving Father who is at work in us or as an angry God looking to beat us into submission. How we answer that question will lay the groundwork on how we see trials in our lives.

Romans 8:35-38 says, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:”For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
This well known passage tells us that whatever challenge we may face in life, we will not be separated from the love of God.

Now this doesn’t answer the “why” question, but it gives us a foundation from which we can find hope and peace in the midst of a trial. Whatever we go through, God’s love is with us.

There are other passages which give some insight into the “Why” question..
James 1:2-4 says, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”

These verses tell us that there is a purpose behind the trials; that they help us to trust God more and grow in our faith.

When we put ourselves in Noah’s sandals, we can try and get a bit of an understanding of what he was thinking and feeling after the flood waters receded. He probably saw things a lot differently. He probably saw God with a renewed sense of awe and reverence. He probably looked at creation with a new sense of appreciation after everything was “cleansed.” He probably looked at his own life with a sense of relief but also a renewed purpose.

I know from my own experience, going through a trial is difficult. At times there are doubts. At other times there is anger and fear. But at the end of each trial, I have come out having a stronger faith and a better perspective of God, myself and the world around me. These experiences have also helped to shape me and make me the person God wants so that I might be a help and blessing to others.

A,B. Simpson said this: “You will have no test of faith that will not fit you to be a blessing if you are obedient to the Lord. I never had a trial but when I got out of the deep river I found some poor pilgrim on the bank that I was able to help by that very experience.”

After the Flood waters receded, Noah had a new chance at life. The world was different, but so was he. After we experience trials in our lives, we too are changed. We too will see life differently. But moving forward, those things we experience, whether positive or negative, God will use to transform us more in the image of Christ so we can be a blessing to others.