It’s one of those calls on my mental “list”. I think everyone has a “list” …it just might look different than mine. It’s a call I didn’t want to receive…but because life is life…the call came anyway. This particular call on my “list” was hearing that a loved one had been hurt. I received one of those dreaded calls this past week.
The phone rang and I was told that my 93-year-old mother-in-law had just fallen, and they were confident that at the very least, she had broken her ankle. In an instant…life changed. My husband and I jumped in the car and headed for the hospital so we could meet the ambulance that was carrying our precious mom.
After a long day in the ER, it was determined that thankfully, nothing else was broken besides her very, misplaced ankle. She was admitted and surgery was performed the next day to put things back together.
Yes, in an instant…life changed. Any plans that mom had would now have to be sidelined…and any plans we had would have to be changed or re-formatted, because in that instant…a new priority took the center stage. It wasn’t what any of us wanted or had planned for, but regardless, life would now take on a “new normal”.
Life isn’t always fun, is it? Every day isn’t always sunshine and rainbows…there are always a few stormy days thrown in to make things interesting. But I’m guessing it’s those rainy days that impact my life much more than the blue-skyed ones. On the clear days, I don’t need to show that I trust God’s plan for my life or the life of a loved one…because I can usually handle those kinds of days on my own. But when the dark clouds either come on the horizon slowly or are instantly overhead…that’s when it soon becomes evident whether my focus and faith are securely in Him or locked-in on myself.
Even though I know all of that, if I’m willing to be “real” with you, I have to admit that this past week has been hard. Really hard. My mother-in-law has been a mom to me for 40 years, and to see her suffer physically, mentally and emotionally has been awful. I have struggled and questioned God as to why in the world this had to happen to her, especially since she is currently in the middle of cancer treatments. None of this makes any sense to me and I have been angry, frustrated, exhausted and tears have escaped my eyes more than once.
I am still working through my thoughts and emotions and know that for now…I just need to trust God’s wisdom and God’s plan. I know He is big enough to handle Mom in the palm of His hand and will give her what she needs for each day. I also know He is big enough to handle me while I continue to work on keeping my focus on Him and accepting what will bring Him the most glory as we proceed on this new journey.
I don’t know what you are facing today. Your journey may be much more difficult than ours and you may also be struggling with seeing the reason for God’s plan. Let me encourage you to share with Him your anger, frustrations and tears. He is big enough to handle them, while He carries you securely in the palm of His hand and you never know when, in an instant, He will reveal to you why His plan is best. Until He does…I’ll be praying that His peace will comfort you and fill you to the brim and overflowing. We are all on this journey together and what a privilege it is to lift each other up to God’s throne…because as we pray to Him, He always hears us…in an instant!
“He comforts us in all our troubles
so that we can comfort others.
When they are troubled,
we will be able to give them
the same comfort God has given us.”
2 Corinthians 1:4
Don’t forget, if you would like to join me in my study of the book of James, you can find my YouTube channel, Image Seeker, at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC0szlDSgNBtFuzzNLBWzwMA. I posted another teaching video this morning, “M-O-N-E-Y”. Check it out today!
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