In my last blog that I wrote about family, I said that we hadn’t had any major crisis except our parents dying. Later, I thought, “Well, sure we have; our son-in-law, Thomas, broke his neck in a farming accident and is paralyzed and in a wheelchair. What is even stranger about forgetting about that is that he, Sherri, and their two kids live with us.

I think the reason that I skipped over Thomas’s accident in my mind is because they and everyone else in our family managed it so well. Everyone has such a strong faith in the love of God that we all believed that God would bless, provide, and use this for His glory and in our growth in our relationship with Jesus. It isn’t that we weren’t sad about all the restrictions and hardships that had now come into Thomas’s life and in his family’s life, but we all trusted the Lord that He was causing the best to happen from His perspective to happen.

There is a lot of complaining, grumbling, and self-pity happening in most people’s lives over every trial and inconvenience that comes into their lives. Very few people faithfully practice James 1:2-4 “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result so you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

God dramatically uses those who rejoice instead of grumble during trials, grow to be like Him in character, and will be near Jesus for eternity.