This morning, on the way to drop my girls off at school, I hit our neighbor’s dog. I called, and let them know, not wanting to stop and traumatize my young children with the death of a pet that they recognize from across the street, and we continued on.

Prayer, communing with God is a regular part of our daily habit. One of my older girls closed her eyes and began to pray silently. My youngest asked God to heal the puppy, and my oldest began to pray out loud. “Dear God, please comfort {our neighbors}, please help them not to suffer today, and thank you that if their dog was going to be hit that it was us.” I nearly hit the brakes, what on earth do you mean, “thank God that it was us”? But before I could even wrap my head around her heart posture, she continued, “we were at least able to call, say we were sorry, and let them know what had happened so that they didn’t just discover their dead dog later today. So, thank you God.” The Lord used this humble plea of my precious daughter to hit a very sensitive place in my heart: the place that thanks the Lord for trial, even in the midst of it.

Her response was rightly placed before the Father, who had sovereignly ordained that we would experience the death of a {beloved} living thing today on our run of the mill, everyday, ordinary, way to school. Knowing that trial brings sanctification does not mean understanding the “why” in the midst of it, and it is not what we are called to do. Rather, we are called to “rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks. For this is the will of God, in Christ Jesus, for you.” (1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18) We will not understand the why outside of the revelation of God through the Holy Spirit (if at all), but that doesn’t change the call to rejoice, counting it {the trial} as joy even when we don’t feel joyful, and knowing that it is for our good that the Lord has allowed it. This is the place where behavior meets belief: when we are hard pressed does it produce faith and trust in the Lord from us, or does it produce discontent, anger, or rebellion in our behavior and response.

Our neighbors graciously forgave us. They met our call of confession with compassion and understanding. As you walk through the trials of life, if you don’t know Christ, it’s impossible to reconcile certain tragedies and trials. But God, who loves you enough to have come to earth in order to die on a Roman cross and resurrect from the dead three days later, offers hope in the midst of suffering.

If you do not know Him, today is the day of salvation. The gospel is simple: you owe a debt you can’t pay, so He paid it. Accept his payment on your behalf and turn from the sin that separates you from a Holy God who can only allow you into His presence because of the blood covering of the sinless Christ alone. There is nothing we can add or take away to contribute to our salvation. It is by grace, through faith, alone. Accepting Christ’s payment for your sin won’t stop your trials, but accepting Him will mean that you have a hope in an eternity where sin and death, sickness and despair will no longer be part of the equation. There is no greater comfort in the midst of trial than a relationship with Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit then, who indwells every believer, activates a heart that so deeply trusts in God’s goodness that it cries out a prayer of thanks even in the midst of suffering.

God bless.