When we go through tragedies in our lives, I know now more than ever that He will be faithful to give you what you need to make it another day. Here are a few examples of things that have happened recently that have reminded me that He is always faithful.
About a week after John Michael went to heaven, Jackie received a letter from a mom whose son had received one of JT's kidneys. The letter was full of encouragement, and some special small things that made it clear that the letter was sent right on time. Timing: the Lord's timing is perfect in every way. This letter could have been sent six months ago, but it was sent just in time to pick us up off the ground and restore our faith in a God who genuinely cares about everything that happens in our lives. One of the special small things that we learned was that the little boy's name was TJ. That might just be a small coincidence to some, but I think it is not a coincidence at all.
This has been quite hard for me to deal with, mostly because I hate to see my family hurting like this. There has been so much heartbreak in such a short amount of time. For several days, I had a really hard time because I just couldn't see how a God that is supposed to be good could let this happen. I was angry, and I didn't know what would make it better. I wanted to be able to say that God is good no matter what and feel like what I was saying was true. That just wasn't happening those first few days. I did, however, ask God to give me something to help me understand or just to make it through yet another tragedy while living so far away.
The Lord has always been faithful to answer in my time of need. This time was no different. I had a trip planned for Beijing shortly after John Michael had passed away, and I decided to go ahead with the trip. On the flight back into Xian the Lord showed me something about his character.
As we ascended into the sky, as usual we went through a layer of clouds and then everything was clear the sun was beautiful and bright. Only a few minutes later we were back in a layer of clouds. A few minutes after that we were back in the beautiful sunshine. I don't know why, but the Lord used this to help me understand what was going on and who He is.
A little more specifically...when you are in the clouds they block your view of the sun, but that doesn't mean that it is not shining. The sun still shines even if you can't see it. In the same way, God is still good even if its hard to see his goodness. The sun's job is to shine, it can't not shine. It doesn't have an off switch, it never changes. It has that one purpose, to shine. Similarly, God is good. He can't be anything other than that. It is clear from scripture that he never changes, He remains the same...yesterday, today, and forever...
So even though we may have clouds/storms/tragedies/heartbreaking situations, the Sun is still shining and God is still Good. We may not be able to see it clearly, but it is true...not always easy to believe because we may not be able to see it, but true non-the-less.
I still get a little angry that my family is suffering through such tragedy, but I rest assured that the Lord will be faithful to them just as he has been faithful to me.
These are just a few thoughts that I wanted to share, thinking that it might bring hope to someone else who is in the midst of the clouds. Just remember, the Sun is Still Shining.
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