Every once in a while you meet someone who just oozes out
sweetness. I am blessed with a friend like this. As our friendship grew, my
husband said to me once, I bet she’s never gotten angry or said a mean thing in
her life! She’s just that sweet.
Just over a year ago, she was experiencing some sudden symptoms
that led her to believe that she might have diabetes. Off she went to the
doctor to see if this could be confirmed. For whatever reason, she was sent on
her way, without any testing, despite
her advocating for herself. A few months later, she was delighted to learn that
she and her husband were expecting. Unfortunately, her symptoms hadn’t stopped
and early in her pregnancy she was diagnosed with Type I Diabetes.
At the beginning, she was warned that this may have affected
the baby’s development. They prepared themselves for the possibilities of what
might lay ahead, but after many ultrasounds they were told the baby looked
healthy.
Fast forward 9 months. She gave birth to a beautiful baby
girl. When she delivered, they were surprised to learn of a few health
complications that had not been observable on the ultrasound.
Her ears hadn’t formed properly and they weren’t sure if she
would be able to hear. She had two small holes in her heart causing a murmur that
would need further monitoring. One of the biggest challenges was she couldn’t
open her jaw wide enough to eat and had to be put on a feeding tube. The
doctors suspected she might have Goldenhar Syndrome so they many examinations
of her brain, kidneys spine and eyes. They spent 8 days in the NICU while their
precious new baby was being monitored.
The last few months have been saturated with doctor’s appointments,
follow-ups, feeding challenges and learning about conditions and treatments.
And this is not the exhaustive list.
Remember, how she’s the sweetest thing ever? These things
aren’t supposed to happen to those people.
I will confess, I was feeling a little fired up. Why didn’t
the doctor test her for diabetes? Then her blood sugar would’ve been under
control. What kind of doctor doesn’t test a person? What if… why… If only…
Even before God was impressing the lesson of living forward upon
my heart, this friend was already living it out. Let me tell you… I have never
seen a person handle a situation with SO much grace! Here are a few things she had to say that left
me completely wowed.
I have to remember
that this isn’t someone’s mistake. God is completely sovereign. As much
as I want to protect her from all the hurt she might face because of these
challenges, I know that God will somehow use this in her life.
As you can see living forward with Jesus Christ doesn’t
exempt you from pain, hardship, suffering, crying or grieving in this life. I
wish it did. It doesn’t make life easy. I really
wish it did. It doesn’t mean things will always work out the way you’d hoped.
It doesn’t mean life will suddenly decrease in difficulty.
Trusting in God’s presence for your present guarantees you
that you
will have what you need, if only you will come. Here are just a few
promises from God’s word where you can see, there is something He is calling us
to do, and much he promises in return:
- “Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)
- “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)
- “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35)
These literally just scratch the surface of the wonderful
promises God has written to us in the Bible. I would encourage you to go and
see for yourself all that he has promised us in this life.
I believe that sometimes we spend a bit longer than
necessary sitting on the floor crying over our ruined “soup” wondering why God
has left us and why He would let this happen.
I haven’t found anywhere in scripture where God invites me enjoy
his omniscient view and allow me to see every behind the scenes detail of my
life. Yet, he has put out the invitation
for me to trust Him with every detail of my life in the here and now.
There is great grace
available when there is great need. I’ve seen people walk through such
difficulty with such grace that you sit back and think, wow God. If you can get
them through that, you can get anyone through anything. Unfortunately, I’ve
also seen people walk down tough roads and just barely get by from day to day.
In both cases, there is anger, questioning, crying and
mourning. I believe the difference between dwelling on the past and seeing the
new thing lies where you choose to set up camp.
My friend and her husband are true portraits of living
forward. They are thankful. They love their little girl with everything in
them. They completely trust that God will give them everything they need for
this journey.
I’m sure they still ask questions. I know they still need
strength and wisdom from God. I know they need prayer. Don’t we all? But they are
living proof that God is doing a new thing. They are living proof that
His
presence in the present in enough.
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