HE is Always There

Tuesday was a long, hard day. Watching an innocent 12-year-old boy face the reality of losing his leg unraveled me. He was scared, he wasn’t ready, and he just wanted to go home. Then there was his sweet momma, my precious sister in Christ. She has already buried one child after a horrific accident, and now she is fighting for the life of another.

Even after thirteen years of ministry, I still have my moments where I wrestle with God. Why this child? Why his leg? Don’t you know he loves to play football? Don’t you think this mother and father have been through enough? I don’t understand what you are doing, and I’m not particularly happy with you right now.

On my way home from sitting in the hospital with Trey and his family, I realized I hadn’t eaten lunch and decided to stop at a Chick-fil-A in Jonesboro. When I walked in, a woman was waiting for me by the door. She said, “Cindy? Is that you? I took care of your baby Jay at St. Jude. I saw the St. Jude and Jay’s HOPE stickers on your car in the parking lot and wanted to say hi!” As we stood there and reminisced about our days in Memphis, she told me about her new job with St. Jude in California, and I told her all about Jay’s HOPE. While she walked away, I heard God whisper to my heart, “Remember that I redeemed your story, so what makes you think I’m not going to redeem Trey’s?”

Here’s the miracle: This old friend lives in California, I was traveling home to Gray, she and I met fifteen years ago in Memphis, and on a random Tuesday afternoon, we just happened to run into each other at Chick-fil-A in Jonesboro. On a day when God had seemed so distant, He was suddenly standing right there.

While I don’t have all the answers, and I am sure there will be more days of doubt, the one thing I am perfectly sure of is this: no matter what we are going through, God can use it. He makes beauty of our ashes and purpose from our pain. No experience—not even a precious child losing his leg—will be wasted.

“Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits- who forgives all your sins, and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things.” -Psalm 103:2-5