He was there all along...

Today was one of those days where I found myself searching for something to write about. I began looking at a few videos trying to find some inspiration. Not surprisingly, they all spoke to me in some form or fashion as they each reminded me of the goodness and faithfulness of God.
    The last video I watched was not a story of God’s miraculous physical healing power like the first two. Rather, it was a testimony that some can relate to. Ruth was a college student juggling a heavy course load, facing the reality of a failing marriage and starting to have flashbacks of abuse as a child. She was feeling overwhelmed and when she could not take it anymore, she decided to end her life. She took some pills along with vodka. Firemen had to break down her door and found her on the floor. She went into a coma and doctors gave her a ten percent chance of survival. When she did awaken from her coma, she was disappointed that she had survived. She made more attempts after that to end her life and consequently many visits to the hospital.
    This part of her testimony reminds me of the reality that even as children of God, we face battles, sometimes on a daily basis, and we too feel overwhelmed. I wish I could say that as a child of God all of our problems disappear and that we live happy, carefree lives. The reality is that the devil will always be working hard to destroy us - that’s his job. We may experience seasons of happiness where things seem to be going alright, but then we also experience sometimes long difficult seasons where we wonder how we are going to make it through. We pray, we trust God, we get into His Word, in short, we do what we may know to do to simply make it through. Yet, it can be hard. 
    In one of the other testimonies I watched, Jessica found out that she was terminally ill with  breast cancer. Unfortunately, the cancer was also found in all of the lymph nodes under her arms. As if that wasn’t enough, she was pregnant. Against all hope, Jessica put her trust in her God. Even as she went through painful treatment, she kept her eyes on God and found comfort and strength as she remembered that Jesus went through worse for her. Just like Ruth in the other testimony, it was difficult for her. I couldn’t help but notice that in spite of all the negatives she faced, she absolutely refused to give up on her God. She even admitted that even if God had allowed the cancer to spread all over her body she would still love Him! 
    Sometimes, it’s not about God doing it our way or even doing what we want, but having the confidence that He knows what is best and His best will always be good for us. Yes, God did heal her and she did deliver a healthy baby boy and she gives all the praise and thanks to God.
    Ruth, on the other hand, did not have that relationship with God like Jessica did. After her many failed attempts at suicide, she finally started back therapy and  made progress towards her healing. Her first marriage ended but she got married again and life really improved for her. Yet, she felt that something was missing. Finally, she and her husband started going to church and one day she made up her mind to surrender her life to Christ. That was the missing link. On top of that, she was able to finally realise that, all along, God was putting the right people in the right place at the time to help her. In short, He was taking care of her. That caught my attention because in this testimony, this person wasn’t even serving God yet God was taking care of her even when she had not surrendered to Him. I find this encouraging because God’s love goes above and beyond. I look at the number of times she tried to end her life and God refused to allow her to die. He had a plan and purpose for her life and He was not about to allow her to miss His best for her. 
    No matter what you are going through, no matter how you are messing up, God loves you. He doesn’t just love His children who have surrendered their lives to Him, He loves even those who are running from Him, trying to live their lives their way without His help. What I love, is when she said that all along God had been putting the right people in the right place at the right time to help her. 
    Who has God been sending your way to help, to encourage, to be a source of strength to you? When we are going through, it can be so difficult to see all the people God is using to help us, all the holes, ditches and pitfalls that He is preventing us from falling into, all the things He is protecting us from. Just because we can’t see it, doesn’t mean that He isn’t working on our behalf, doesn’t mean that He doesn’t care. Sometimes, in retrospect, as we look back over our lives, we realise that God was there all along, carrying us, protecting us, keeping us, just plain loving us!
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I invite you to do so now. God cares about you, He loves you and wants what is best for you. The beautiful part is the fact that you don’t have to be perfect, you don’t have to have it all together. God wants you just as you are and He knows exactly how to fix every problem in every area of your life.

---