Is it really possible to smile through the difficult trials of life?
Well, if anyone had reason for resentment rather than rejoicing, it would have been Nancy and Ed. Back in 1995, their close friend, widowed with two teenage children, died of cancer. Nancy and Ed adopted her children, which instantly grew their family of four to a household of six.
A few months later, as Nancy and Ed rehearsed for their church’s annual Christmas program, their house went up in flames and burned to the ground.
The next weekend, neighbors organized a search party to sift through the ashes for anything valuable that may have survived. They found a piece of paper, well-preserved, with a timely message encouraging a smile:
Contentment: Realizing that God has already provided everything we need for our present happiness.
For Nancy and Ed, that simple statement was like hearing the voice of God from a burning bush! He saw them. He heard them. He was with them.
The apostle Peter believed it is possible to smile through the fiery trials of life, in their various forms and degrees, because of the hope we possess.
We can smile in hope because Christ is alive (1 Peter 1:3). We can smile in hope because our eternal inheritance is imperishable (1:4). We can smile in hope because God’s presence abides with us and His power operates within us (1:5).
A blazing house lighting up the night sky can’t burn up all that is ours. A body being ravaged by cancer can’t separate us from Christ’s love. Suffering tries to blind us to Christ. Faith keeps our hope in sight.
Jesus is the central piece of suffering’s puzzle. Only by fitting Him into place can the puzzle begin to make sense. Your gift might very well lead one suffering person to realize that truth, look up, and smile for the first time in a long time.
Grateful for our common hope,
Pastor Charles R. Swindoll
