Suffering...

I ran into an old friend today. About 9 years ago, I coached her daughter on the cheerleading squad. They are a precious family and have always been dear to me.

She told me that in the last month and a half, her daughter (the one I coached), went from being a healthy 22 year old mother  to being in the Intensive Care Unit at a major hospital for weeks and diagnosed with an extremely rare disease that attacked her body. She lost the ability to walk, speak, write, and move. She has been unable to take care of herself, or her young daughter, so her momma has been taking care of her very sick daughter, her granddaughter, as well as her other child who is in high school...all while trying to hold down a job and be a single parent. To say my friend was weary is putting it mildly.

She had that look in her eyes of defeat...of being almost hopeless. When I ran into her she was picking up her daughter from physical therapy, which she will be required to do at least three times a week. She was carrying her grandchild that she had spent the whole night with before at the ER for Bronchitis. She has to be with her daughter to give her around the clock care, so she's had to take a medical leave of absence from work. She has no income, but still has many, many bills to pay.

As we chatted, she said, "Why did this happen?" Then she said what many of us say to ourselves often. "Maybe it's because I am not a good enough Mom". "Maybe I'm being punished".

God reminded me of something I read on a blog a while back. It said, “We don’t trust in what God will do, because we don’t know what He will do. We trust in who God is.”Standing in the middle of the parking lot of the hospital, holding her sick grandbaby, and while my two kids ran wild around us, God was there. I spoke with her and talked with her about the fact that God is good, regardless of our circumstances...regardless of how hard the current trials are...regardless of how we respond to them. HE is good.

In life, we don't know what is coming next, and we don't know if we will like what is thrown our way.
But as Christians, we CAN rest in the fact that because of WHO God is, we know what He chooses to do will be BEST. It may not be what we want...it may not be easy...but it will be BEST. He works ALL things for good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purposes...ALL things...for our good and for His glory!

If you are going through a rough time right now, stop and remind yourself of WHO God is and that He is carrying you, even right now.

Love y'all!