...the source...

It seems just a little bit like a heretic to think of something hard as being from the Lord.  Most of us are quick to give Him credit for the good times...but the hard ones?  The ones that require a lot of patience, that take something from us, the ones that just really aren't that fun or that good?  Those...those can't be from Him.
Psalm 60:1-3 says, "O God, You have rejected us, broken our defenses; You have been angry; oh, restore us.  You have made the land to quake; You have torn it open; repair its breaches, for it totters.  You have made Your people to see hard things; You have given us wine to drink that made us stagger."
David leaves no wondering about it.  The rough times his nation is going through...he acknowledges as from the Lord.  In fact, he goes as far to say that the Lord has initiated them--He is the One who has brought them about.
Now, I'm not saying that every single hard thing that comes across the path of our lives is straight from the hand of the Lord.  I truly believe there are instances, like with the story of Job, where powers far beyond us  cause things.  I also believe there are times (which these verses are probably an example of) when our hard times are part of our discipline and growth from the Lord as a need for us to be disciplined in light of disobedience.  And then, there are things that He puts before us to sanctify and beautify us.
But what I am saying is that in all those things, He is supreme.  He is sovereign.  He is above all, and completely in control.  Nothing comes before us that He does not know about and that He does not rule over.  And so, while He might not be the initial source, He is the ultimate One.
Allow me to share briefly from my own heart an example.  Yesterday I had a doctor's appointment to check on my baby girl, the very baby girl who could come any day now.  Besides the normal (and somewhat awkward) checking of my uterus and cervix to see how we were progressing, we also talked about the possibility of inducing.  When I left her office, I had scheduled an appointment for Wednesday of next week, as well as one for an induction on Thursday if she had not come on her due date.
Believe me, some of the reality of her coming has started to set in for me.  While I am beyond excited, and nothing can keep me from wanting her here more than anything in the world, I won't lie that it also scares me....only slightly :).  So, the thought that (in the words of my beautiful cousin) next week, my list of activities would probably include having a baby was somewhat intimidating.
I don't consider having a baby to be a tough time...not at all.  But, I do recognize that it's not going to be an easy one (not the labor, or the coming home with another person that has never been before...).  But what I take comfort in is that all things:  good, bad, precious, hard, painful, joyous, humbling, ironic, mournful, come from my Father.  As I recognize Him as the ultimate Source, I am able to cry out with David, "Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint.  Lead me to the Rock that is higher than I!"
May those words be yours today as well.