It's been four months since my life turned upside down. My life will never be the same. I'm reading a book right now called A Place of Wonder: Preparing Yourself for Suffering: A Place for Weakness by Michael S. Horton. One great quote from this book is the fact that "Our weaknesses really are an opportunity for God to show his strength." I started meditating on this early this morning and realized that God's strength is more than a nice peaceful thought. God wants to show himself strong in our lives. As I thought about this I looked back over the last few months and marvel at how God answered all the prayers that were lifted up.
I realized that there were people literally all over the world that responded to our plea for prayers. We saw people respond to our need, inside and outside of the church. God uses people in our lives for his purposes.
Missy was the "rock" during this ordeal. She pretty much waited upon me hand and foot plus looked after the family and still kept up with her kindergarten class as she sent sub plans each day.
During this time she hid her own grief over the situation and purposed to be strong for the rest of us. It was amazing to see how she responded in the midst of the battle that we were all thrown into at the beginning of the year. We both didn't realize that the grief went so deep until my daughter got sick with Scarlett fever about three months after my surgery. Her body was covered in red bumps and she was in so much pain she couldn't even swallow. It was too much for Missy to bear. Not another situation. One person can only handle so much. And that was the moment that I believe that God stepped in and held her up and let her know how much she loved her. I was able to shoulder the load with her and but God was the one that took her and showed her his undeniable power to provide peace in a situation that was pretty unsettling.
As we unload our burden's to the Lord he replaces that burden with peace and prepares us for the next battle. Life is hard. But God's strength is evident in the journey, if we are willing to give it over to Him.
Horton says, "Without trials, faith is not really roused to grab hold of the God of promise."
True.