From my Journal...

February 6, 2007

Just as God has been reminding me all along~*none* of what we are going through now is a surprise to God. Not only has He *known* since the beginning of time that we would be going through these trials, but 'He had already through it out in advance. Considered it. Weighed it. Checked it out against the plumb line of His plan. He had looked at the good that it could ultimately accomplish...'
I don't know what that is. I don't understand why. But I *know* that He has a plan~a glorious plan~and 'Had the incident not possessed glorious purpose, He would have dismissed it.' "

I ran across this this morning, and it reminded me that I really need to journal much more regularly. The quotes are from Beth Moore's book Get Out of That Pit, which I really need to go back and read again. 15 months later, we are still deep in the midst of the trial I referenced then, but looking back, I can most definitely see that God has had a plan in it all. I am sure that I am still seeing only the tiniest glimpse of what that plan involves. I still don't understand why. I am still unable to say that I am glad for the suffering caused by this trial. But as I told Bro. Kent recently through tears, "We have learned things through this about God's goodness, His sovereignty, and His love that I know we could never have learned any other way." Where once I could not see at all anything glorious about the pain our family has experienced through this trial, I now can say that I *know* that it does possess "glorious purpose". The fact that I know that the glimpse of His glory that we have seen in this situation is only a fraction of the glorious purpose He sees fills me with anticipation for what He has yet to reveal to us.

"You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives."
Genesis 50:20