Have you ever been in a situation where the turn of events caught you off-guard and you wondered, “Is this a joke?” More than likely we have all had this experience at one time or another.
My son and his wife took their elementary-aged daughter to Philadelphia for some surgery. Right after they checked into the hotel, they got a call from the hospital informing them that the surgery had been postponed to three days after the original schedule. They were doing their best to keep her healthy in the meantime, so this meant additional effort on their part. Two days prior to the new surgery date, both his daughter and his wife tested positive for Covid. Now surgery was canceled and they were left to quarantine in a hotel room for several days. They flew home on Thanksgiving Day with nothing accomplished. The surgery would have to be rescheduled. Is this some kind of cruel joke?
We often wonder that, don’t we? Does it ever occur to us that maybe the surgeon wouldn’t have been on the top of his game that day so the child is actually being protected? No one knows but God…
I have a dear friend who had Covid this Fall, followed by pleurisy with bronchitis and then a heart attack. She’s in her 90s, and blessed with a good sense of humor, referred to it as a “trifecta”!
My husband’s aunt had Covid this Fall, too, just prior to her 99th birthday. She was in the hospital but refused treatment, yet she came through it and wound up going back to her assisted living residence. Though prepared to leave this earth and meet her maker, she accepted His choice and, repeating what her mother often said, proclaimed, “God is good.”
We don’t often understand why things happen the way they do. We tend to fight it when they don’t turn out as we’d like. In his book entitled 30 Days in the Land of the Psalms, Charles Dyer amplifies the Scripture in Psalm 46:10 by translating from the original Hebrew. Cease striving and know that I am God, he explains, “literally means to let it drop, in other words, let your arms relax and drop to your side. Stop trying to fight the battle in your own power…God is in your midst.” (page 87).
The beginning of that Psalm says, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.” (v. 1). As our refuge, He is our hiding place; He is also our strength to keep going, always with us, no matter how things may appear.
So, we may ask: is this a joke? No, but it is life.
“In this world you will have tribulation, but take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
“For, lo, I am with you always, even to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)
A GREAT reminder, Teri. Ps 51 “He who dwells in the secret place of the most high shall abide under that shadow of the Almighty! Sometimes what the enemy intends for evil God uses for good. We are always in his care!
Thanks Teri. I needed that and I’m sure everyone reading this needed to here it! His ways and His timing need to be accepted and trusted even if or when!
My heart ached for your son, his wife, and their daughter….as I was reading. Good I kept reading….your insight was so true and uplifting as usual. Thanks for once again reminding us to keep our eyes on Him and not be consumed with what is happening here in our temporal home. God is in control. ❤
God IS good — always and inspite of.
So good! Thank you for reminding us!❤️
Very Good. How true God is good and in control
I like the thought that even tho things may not go as we expected, God protects us. It’s sometimes good to look at “what could have happened if ….” and then be thankful that God is in your corner. Praise Him that He knows best. Thank you for your constant reminders that “God is good.”
Thanks for this encouraging insight into God’s plans and His purposes!