My husband’s 2^nd tour in Afghanistan he got a replacement crewman in his vehicle, and when he called sometime that week, he told me he was concerned about something this new guy said.

“This is the best vehicle to get,” he said. “Since you’re a Christian we know God won’t let anything happen to you, so I guess that means I’m safe too.”

How great, I thought, that they know his faith through his actions. But my husband saw more than that.

“We both know it doesn’t work that way,”  my husband told me.  “These guys with me, they don’t know Jesus.  What if something happens to me?  If they believe being a Christian means I am totally safe, then what will happen to their faith if I am KIA?”

Before this point, it was easy to say why God is good.  He had brought my dear husband home safe from a tour in the desert already.  He had even managed to bring him home in time to witness the birth of my son.  And now, while he was on this 2^nd tour, God had been, so far, keeping him safe again.

But would I have the faith to continue to trust in God’s goodness if he had not made it back in time, or even if he had not made it back at all? My husband’s worry about the faith of his colleagues in the event he didn’t make it home made me realize my faith needed to be unconditional, not just for myself, but as a witness to those around me.

Shortly after that conversation, my Bible study brought me to this verse in Daniel.

“Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, “Your threat means nothing to us. If you throw us in the fire, the God we serve can rescue us from your roaring furnace and anything else you might cook up, O king. But even if he doesn’t, it wouldn’t make a bit of difference, O king. We still wouldn’t serve your gods or worship the gold statue you set up.” (Daniel 3:16-18, The Message)

Here are these men, facing a burning fire, and they point out two things:

First, that their God can do anything.  If it is His will, he will protect them no matter how hard the King tries to have them hurt.  Their God is bigger than anything Nebuchadnezzar can dish out.

Second, they do not know they will of God.  He may chose, in His wisdom, not to intervene.  And they may burn to death.  But even so, they will worship only God.

These two things are also true in my life.  My God CAN do all things, everything from finding my lost car keys to keeping my hubby safe at war.  But His ways are not my ways.  His plan for my life does not include making things easy for me all the time.

The Bible tells us God is good even when things don’t go our way.  Psalm 145 is one of the most shining examples of intense praise and worship to our God.  It is written by King David, a man who had lived in exile, whose first wife had grown to despise him, whose best friend had been killed in battle and whose son would eventually plot his death.  If it is to teach us anything, it is that our praise to God needs to not be limited to those times that we get what we want.

So my challenge to myself?  To remind myself God is good during those times I am tempted to think he is not.  From the little things like car trouble to the big things like the death of a friend.  His ways are not my ways but His love for me is unchanging.  And I need to praise Him at all times in all things, so those who don’t know Him see that He is always Faithful.  My life may not be perfect, but my God is.

God is good.  All the time, eh.

Kim is a child of God who believes in Grace and is grateful that His mercies are new every morning.  I am a 30 year old wife of a soldier in the Canadian Army.  We’ve been married 10 years and have 3 amazing kids.  We have survived 3 deployments to Afghanistan as well as numerous other training and domestic operations.  While I went to school to be a Social Worker, right now attempting to mother my children is my full time job.  www.kimberleymills.blogspot.com

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