Hi Folks:

We're between series right now so I've jotted down some thoughts. I've finished Daniel and I'll have a Christmas series in a few weeks, but for now I've been reflecting on some of my experiences and those of some OnFire readers over the last few weeks.

The OnFire website has been up for a few weeks now. As time allows I'll keep working on the archives. The first 1/3 are there. Check out www.onfireletter.com.

This week was full of ups and downs for our household. It started horribly, with having to make the decision to put down one of our cats, Jelly Bean. We all cried miserably over that. Over the next couple of days we tried to comfort the boys and decided to get a kitten from friends. On Saturday we got the kitten, named Enzo after Mark's favorite car, the Ferrari Enzo. (Kids these days - we drooled over Mustangs and Corvettes, my kids salivate over Ferrari's, Porsche's and McLaren F1's). So the week ended much better than it began.

Of the two boys, Mark (the youngest) is by far the more sensitive and thoughtful of the two. One evening we lay in bed together as he asked all sorts of tough questions, like Why didn't God heal the cat? Why did Jelly Bean get sick? I was surprised at the depth of the questions, but then again, these are the questions that come out of deep pain. We talked about these things and others that night.

Thankfully the pain over the loss of a cat heals quickly. Other hurts and pains take longer. We watched the news this week as searchers located a missing 19-year-old who was known by an OnFire reader. Unfortunately, he was not alive. The pain experienced by his parents, family and friends will take much longer because there is no longer any "normal" for them to return to.

An Onfire reader wrote to tell me that her husband left. More heartbreak. Life seems filled with it. At times people write for advice about problems. Its not hard to read pain between the lines of email.

Trials don't just make life difficult. They challenge our faith. Pain is funny that way. It feels like a betrayal. "But I trusted you!"

Paul wrote an interesting thing to the church in Thessalonica. "We sent Timothy, . . . to strengthen and encourage you in your faith, so that no one would be unsettled by these trials. (1 Thessalonians 3:2-3 NIV). I like that word "unsettled" because its a good description of what happens to us under trial. We are shaken and disturbed and it threatens to unsettle us. When this happens our love grows cold, our hearts darken, hope dims, and we doubt that God really is good..

We've all been through tough times, but you've likely noticed that not all people end up in this downward cycle away from God. There was once a lady I visited in a nursing home. Her husband had been an abusive drunk and was killed by a drunk driver. In her later years she developed rheumatoid arthritis which crippled her hands and feet. She never complained, always had a smile and a word of encouragement for the staff and residents. She trusted God with a deep, deep faith. Some who have endured less were hardened and turned away. She, however, turned to God in her trial.

I've come to understand that trials can either lead us away from God, or will lead us to God. This is no accident. We control this. It doesn't mean that the trials are any less painful. But, rather, will we let the pain point us to, or away from, God?

If you're going through a trial right now, don't give up. Keep turning to God in faith. It won't always feel so hard.

Hope this helps. Be OnFire,

Troy

Nov 14, 2006.