CHALLENGES

This has been a challenging week for me both as a leader and as a sister. Today I will talk about my challenge as a sister.

My sister is probably the most important person in the world to me and this week she has been going through a lot of pain due to an infection. Now I can take many things that are thrown at me in life, but I have to say that dealing with my sister’s pain is one of the most difficult. I am very protective of the people I love, especially my sister.

She and I were in the doctor’s office waiting for him to see us and we were talking about how different our lives are since we became Christ followers. Earlier that morning as soon as I received the phone call about the infection, I began my quest to get to her and then I called a friend who immediately called her to pray with her. I called another friend who began to comfort me, and then she sent out a prayer request for my sister. The support was coming in from all sides. Comforting support, not hysterical support because all of us knew that we needed to pray and give it to God to work out. This kept me in check. I was concerned, even a little scared, but I was strangely at ease.

In the past I would have been a wreck, trying to control the situation. And because I would not have been able to control it, I couldn’t have been strong for her because I would have been falling apart myself. But this day while waiting in that office, I remembered I had ordered and received a little booklet called “Navigating the Storms of Life” and it was in my purse. So I took it out and started to read it to her. This book concentrates a lot on the Book of Job. And as only God can do, and has done countless times in my journey, He found a way to let us know that He can always be trusted even when we don’t understand. Even though we were scared and she was in great pain, as I read page after page, God was speaking to us and teaching us that “in the face of unexplained and unexplainable tragedies, to fix our eyes on Him”.

It truly amazes me how I went through 40 years of my life without God and today I can’t even imagine going one minute without Him. He has given us each other and an amazing family, amazing friends, amazing mentors…amazing people to do life with.

HE IS THE AMAZING GOD.