God Shows Up in Suffering

In December Carol and I will be married for 55 years.  From the beginning Carol has always known how to pray and most of all hear the wisdom God has for the moment. 

One of the first times I truly heard God was in a dream at 25.  Carol had the same dream that night.  I’ve always been so thankful how she willingly seeks our Creator for His plan and purpose for our lives.

She loves going on prayer walks most everyday.  I can hardly wait for her return to hear what she has heard from God.  It is always inspiring and divine.

So the latest walk tops them all.  It happened in the midst of this Quarantine, Pain, Suffering, Riots, and Violence.  

She sets out for her prayer walk Sunday morning.   Walking she prays from Matt. 6:26 and following; “But God how could You allow so much pain and suffering when You said not to worry.  You tell me we are much more valuable than the birds.  That they do not sow, reap or store away in barns, and yet You feed them.   Then You say, worrying can’t add a single hour to my life?”   

Ten minutes into her walk, she looks up at a very tall street light with a bird sitting on it.  Suddenly the bird falls to the ground and hits so hard she hears a thud.  She walks over where the bird is lying on it’s side, and it looks dead.  Carol says, “God, what is this all about? That’s not suppose to happen when I’m reminding You of what You said.”  

She gets no response and continues to walk 45 more minutes, returning to the scene of the fallen bird.  It is still lying there.  She stops and stares at the bird when suddenly it flutters and flies away.  

Then God speaks to her with such emotion addressing her struggles with our own lives through this crisis.  He says, “Carol, there’s Life after a blow!  There’s Life after a Death!”  Her mind is then filled with the reality that this life is temporary, but yet it counts. 

We tend to grieve over how things used to be, or memories of what we called normal.  But God has so much more ahead for us.  There is Life after Death.  

Can you imagine God saying to you during this time, “Seek My Kingdom above all else, live righteously and I will give you everything you need!  This is not a suggestion, but a command.  I divided time into days, nights and seasons so you can have manageable portions of life to handle.”

Be blessed today!  God has a planned future for you filled with Hope!

Paul