Throughout my journey of faith there
have been several moments that I have discovered revelations about God through
various situations and circumstances. These
revelations come not because of some great connection and insight that I have
but rather from the words of a wise person who told me about the need to look
for God in unexpected places in my life.
These words have caused me to examine various situations in my life in a
new light, which in turn have revealed a great deal about God’s character to
me. I have been able to examine new
situations with fresh eyes thinking about the lesson or piece of God’s character
that could be hiding in the pain, anxiety, or discomfort.
One primary situation that jumped out at
me was when our son was born premature in the NICU. I remember the shock of being told that
something was wrong and he would have to be placed in the NICU for some
tests. The mood quickly changed from one
of celebration to one of frustration and confusion when we were told that they
didn’t know if he was going to make it.
I remember crying out to God in the waiting area, with my wife by my
side, begging for our son to be spared.
I recall sitting by his crib multiple times each day, praying for a
miracle to happen. However, day after
day we continued to see him declining and the nurses scrambling to find a
solution to his respiratory problems.
Although it was only a month of our lives, the days seemed to last
forever and the tears simply wouldn’t stop as we doubted God’s plan for this little
boy. We knew the pain of losing a child
firsthand and couldn’t begin to fathom going through that again. However, at about the midway point of that
first month we began to see small improvements in our son and how he was
responding to the treatments. He began
to gain strength and breath on his own, making his mom and dad breathe easier
as well. A couple of weeks after this
turn, we found ourselves taking our son home and celebrating the wonderful
blessing of his life.
As we reflect on the time in the
hospital that we spent with our little boy there were several things that
happened causing me to understand God’s character all the more. The first was that just as we sat by our son’s
bedside every day; God is with us all the time.
He is constantly surrounding us with His love and peace however the
question is are we receptive to it.
Second, it seemed as though our prayers were being ignored and God
simply wasn’t listening to us as we prayed for our son to be healed. This was a reminder to rely on God’s timing,
not our own, and trust that He hears the cries of our hearts. Just as David cried out to God in the book of
Psalms we found ourselves doing the same thing but needed to rely on what we
knew about God rather than simply what we were feeling in our hearts. The third revelation that happened were
through the relationships that were established, with the nurses, doctors, and
other parents. There were several times
that we had the opportunity to reach out to the nurses, especially when one of
them lost a child a year after our son was in the hospital. Our little boy provided the opportunity to reach
into their hurt and attempt to shed some of God’s love on the situation. There were also opportunities to extend God’s
grace to the doctor’s even when it seemed as though they weren’t really doing
anything to help our son. There were
chances when other parents would want to talk, laugh, and cry together simply
to get through our situation.
Through the pain, tears, and discouragement
that transpired that month, I found myself coming to a deeper understanding of
who God is and how He desires to be a part of my life. I found myself marveling at the depth of His
love for me, amazed at the constant pursuit of my heart that He exhibited, and
the care for the prayers that I lifted up to Him daily for our son. In that month, God revealed a great deal of
His character to me, helping me to overcome my doubts and draw closer to Him.
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