Having faith!

[Josh Hensley]

The hardest question for anyone to answer is the question why. Why did this happen? Why did it turn out like this? I'm not sure how other people handle it, but for me, all I can say is have faith. Unfortunately, most of the time I say that, they just look at me as if they want to say, "Sure josh we've heard that before, way too many times. Having faith is great and all but this is a real problem." Those looks have really been bugging me lately so I decided to try and find a way to explain why people need faith. As I was praying God gave me an analogy. Our lives are like a chessboard and God is in control of the pieces or experiences on the board. His strategy in this game is perfect and the timing and placing of those pieces are genius. However, like with true geniuses, the way they think is accentric and makes no sense to anyone except themselves. This can be applied to our lives and the experiences that are in it. The way God moves the pieces in your life, to us, seem really random. It makes no sense what so ever. That's where faith comes in. You can't see the entire board. You can only see one piece at a time. Only one experience at a time. To us the moving of the pieces or rather experiences through our lives are unexpected and, to be honest, sometimes unwanted. To God, it's so much more than that. It's a flawless, strategic plan. They occure in order to turn us into mighty warriors and followers of God. Teaching us to put our strength in him so that no weapon formed against us shall prosper. The way God plays "chess" is simple yet complicated at the same time. It's simple in the sense that, with every person, the outcome is the same. However, it's complicated in the sense that his strategy and the position and time that he moves those pieces are different with every person. What God does makes no sense until we make it to the end. When God moves the final piece for a checkmate. After that we finally see how it all works. We look back and see how God set up the board. How each experience was there to teach us something important about ourselves and God. So you see, don't fret when something doesn't work out the way you planned or when something tragic and unexpected happens. All God did was move a strategic piece in your life in order to help you grow as a person and help you grow closer to him. So through it all...have faith :)

[Michael Molter]

Josh, your way of explaining things is incredible, and such a blessing.
This was so good, and I'm so grateful that I was able to read it.
God's going to bless you so much through what you're doing.
Just have faith in it. :-)

[Melissa]

Thanks for that story/analogy. I'm going through a difficult time in my life and that analogy really helped. Thanks!

~Melissa~

[Michael Anderson]

Brilliant!!!!

[Jessica Smagacz]

Josh, thanks for sharing! This is awesome!