God Really Does

Last night, at a presentation for Melaleuca, I sat with Hudson across a large room from a woman my mother’s age.  Her reason for generating income is to create a scholarship fund in honor of the son she lost two years ago in a snowboarding accident.  That February night a blizzard had crippled the state of Maryland.  The mom knew the person who received her son’s heart was somewhere nearby.  As she told the story of later meeting the recipient and maybe even spending a holiday with him, I was compelled to speak with this woman.  I later learned that she had lost a brother who was 23 at the time.  She told me these things are things that she always thought happened to other people and not to her.  But they did.  I wanted to share how much God loved her and had a plan for her life.  I did and meant it.  It seems like such a cliché.

Hearing those words that change our life in an instant.  You have cancer.  I want a divorce.  I don’t love you anymore.  The one you love has died.  What I feared most has come upon me.  Have you ever ridden in a car in the passenger seat and put on the imaginary breaks?  I do it all the time.  I put those breaks on all the time in my mind.  I remember getting into a car accident as a teenager, getting out of the car and wondering how I could just fix it and make it go away.  Those words we fear most, when they come upon us, in my nature at least, I want to put the breaks on.  Even in my mind now, when I hear the words of my brother’s death, I can’t make them real.  I want to reverse them.  But we can’t.  They are words that change our life forever.  I think some people fear God in a way that isn’t true.  They think if they don’t fully put their trust in Him, He will leave them alone.  Others trust Him, but are leaning on something else to go forward after these paralyzing times.  I imagine walking on a floor or deck that’s floor is made from rotted wood.  So you grip the railing to hold yourself up.  The thing is with God, He’s holding the railing, He’s holding the wall, He’s holding the earth.  Every other thing to supposedly help us or protect us, God is allowing.  He could cause those to crumble too.  And if He does, sweet person, it’s out of love.  You see, I really believe what the Word of God says.  I really believe that, though there may be pain, God DOES work everything together for good.  I really believe His Hands are holding us and when we rest in Him and receive His Word, those things we feared most, He can heal and use them for a greater purpose.  God REALLY does love us.  And it’s people like that woman I met last night, I just want to tell.