For the Good

My precious daughter broke her elbow exactly a year ago. I sat by her bedside and realized what was truly important as tears streamed down my face throughout the night as she awaited surgery. 

My God met me right there and I knew - in an instant - that financial concerns, losing weight and making sure my family had the perfect homemade meal every single night were not what mattered.

My family sat there with me and my daughter, in her pain and confusion, brought factions together that had been at odds for years. And I would go as far as to say that we now have an unbreakable bond.

It may or may not have happened had she not been injured but I can assure you it would not have come as quickly. It would not have cemented overnight. And life would not be as good right now if it hadn't happened.

Those are facts.

But the other fact is that Taylor had to suffer for those things to come to pass. Even now she spends several hours each day in a barbaric splint designed to do what the months of hellacious exercises over the past year didn't... 

And I hate that she's been through this...

...but yet I can see that He was working good through what I thought was one of the most unfair and heartbreaking turn of events I'd witnessed to date...

So I know - from personal experience - that He does what He says He will. He saw the entire plan and He worked it for the better. 

But here's the kicker - it all unfolded before my eyes when I let go. Completely. Not because I wanted to but because I just didn't know what else to do.

I had watched my daughter crawl through my house as a kindergartender because she had a broken foot.

I saw her come home from school two years later with an undiagnosed broken wrist after a fall on the playground.

We made it through all of that - largely unscathed - and yet here I was sitting at my daughter's hospital bed and all I could think was "How could you let this happen to her again?"

And the only response I received was one that said, "It could have been worse. For me, it was."

There you have it, my friends. As our Father watched His Son die on a cross for our sins, it was so much worse than what I was facing. I knew it was true. I believed it to the marrow of my bones.

And yet I still forget and get so wrapped up in myself at times that it disgusts even me. 

I have no idea why I felt convicted to write this post but can I just promise you that no matter how bad things look, how dismal the outcome may appear to be, He is there with you and He will not let go.

 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Jeremiah 29:11