This is the time of year when I enjoy watching things come back to life. I am beginning to see splashes of yellow appear – daffodils and forsythia. Trees that were just bare sticks are covered in white blossoms. Soon there will be redbud and azaleas adding their colors to the mix. God gives us such wonderful gifts and we can expect to see them year after year.
Sometimes things happen that we can’t anticipate. For example, just this week 3 men lost their lives in an accident on their construction site. There will be lots of investigation into just exactly what went wrong but that will not affect the end result – these men went to work and didn’t go home. I guess this particular event has touched my heart because I have seen what that kind of loss does to a family. Back in the early 1970’s my uncle got up, dressed and drove to work – just like any other day. But it didn’t turn out to be like any other day. He was killed on his job site in an accident similar to the one this week. A few seconds changed the world for my aunt and 3 cousins. My dad went from having a great buddy to helping his widow navigate through paperwork she’d never had to consider before. My mom became her sister’s support through an unimaginable period in her life.
So where is God in all this? Why does this particular family have to endure all this sadness? I can’t know the answer to why. But I know God was there for this family. I’m sure my aunt’s faith was tested throughout this experience. God didn’t change what happened. He gave her the strength to get through this devastating event in her life. So often we spend our time asking God to get us out of a particular problem. But there are times when all we can do is trust God to get us through it and hang on. Jeremiah 1:8 tells us, “Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you”. The “them” in this passage refers to the people God told Jeremiah to address on His behalf. Jeremiah was young and he used this as an excuse to decline. But God told him not to worry about that, to trust Him to get Jeremiah through. In verse 9, God touches Jeremiah’s mouth to signify that God’s words would be spoken through Jeremiah. God’s gift to Jeremiah (and to us) is that He will be there when we need Him. Always. What a great gift!
Submitted by Linda Wheeler
