Series: Renewal
John 8:32 ESV
John 8:31-32 ESV
Romans 8:38-39 ESV
There isn’t a person on the planet who hasn’t seen bad days pop up out of the blue that changes their life forever.
The old saying is true…what goes up must come down.
For those of us who have been around for several decades most of us have learned that those are the days that really determine who we are as human beings.
Even writing about it is difficult, because I remember…
My first encounter with true fear came when I was 34 years old.
I was at church camp when I got word there was a problem with my Mom.
My Mom had been hospitalized for the first time since 1953 when I was born. They thought she had suffered a stroke.
I was in a panic because I was several hours away and I was at camp with several children. Even if I could have found someone to take over for me I knew we came on an old church bus that I wasn’t able to drive.
I didn’t have a car.
The year was 1987 and I didn’t have a cell phone. Thirty plus years later I look back and I wonder how we survived without a cell phone. (In addition to that, if someone would have told me in thirty years ago land line would be nearly obsolete I would not have believed them.)
In order to survive the week and my frustration I knew I needed to drop to my knees and trust God. I made a mental list of items that were frustrating, painful, and frightening.
I also prayed I would be able to accomplish what I went to camp to do. The last thing I wanted was for the week to be clouded or ruined for all the campers. I knew somehow I needed to be able to focus on what God sent me to do at camp.
Thankfully, my da had taught me how to rely on God when times get tough. This was the first time my parents had faced health problems so even though I felt unsure, I knew turning to God was the answer.
Every moment I wasn’t teaching or sitting with the campers I was praying that my Mom would be okay and my Dad would not be afraid.
Little did I know that God was preparing me for something else that was about to happen that would change my life forever.
My time spent praying while I was at camp was preparing me for a life changing event. It was the first life changing event I had faced.
While God was preparing me, little did I know it was actually so I would be prepared to face the real truth of life and God’s care.
John 8:32 tells us, “you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Looking back I can see how God carefully engineered my life so I could handle the events that were about to happen.
As it turned out Mother’s problem was not caused by a stroke. She had Bell’s Palsy which caused the muscles in her face to seize up. It appeared like she had suffered from a stroke. By the time camp was over and I had returned home she was out of the hospital. I was still five hours away but she assured me I did not need to make the drive to Kansas City.
I relaxed and I thought everything was good again.
Little did I know God had been getting me ready for a life changing event that was on the horizon.
In August of that year my da started having health problems. At first I thought it was probably something simple like what my Mom went through in July. By September we started to realize the issue was serious.
I prayed…oh how I prayed that he would be healed. He had been diagnosed with cancer. I prayed that God would heal him. He was in treatment but the cancer was very aggressive. It started in the bladder and within months it had moved to the liver.
He passed into the arms of Jesus on November 3, 1987.
The months preceding his death were a blur for me. Looking back I can see that God was protecting me and was truly only allowing me to feel what I could handle. I really was in shock.
I couldn’t begin to imagine how I could survive life without my da.
That was thirty seven years ago.
It was my first life-altering event.
It took years (five to be exact) for me to stop crying.
Looking back, God knew the truth. The truth was God. Even on my darkest days in 1987 God was holding onto me and covering me.
The truth of a God’s word was that we are set free. We are not left alone and forsaken…when we turn to God we are covered.
I had an interesting discussion with someone just this week about truth and eternal salvation. While we cannot be certain as I read scripture in John 8:31-32 Jesus reveals, “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
This is just one example but what we are told is that if (when) we believe we are His disciples.
In a Roman’s 8:38-39 Paul wrote, “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
I believe. I believe that God can hold onto us. Regardless of what life throws at us, God will hold onto us.
Spiritual Practice: God Holds On
Consider the first time you realized God was holding onto you. If you’ve not experienced that, ask God to hold you. You WILL be set free from sin and death.
In God, Deborah
Yorumlar