Common Grief and a Consistent God

I had the great joy last week of listening to Karen, a lady in our church, tell the story of her recovery from a near fatal car accident. Thrown from her rolling SUV, Karen suffered multiple broken bones, internal bleeding, a broken neck and crushed pelvis. Her recovery has been painful, difficult, full of grief and anger and joy and hope.

As Karen spoke of the trials of her recovery it was as if she were reading from my own private journal. Many of her comments mirrored my own - word for word. Even though our trials are vastly different, our God is the same. This is encouraging to me because it reminds me that the hope I cling to is not just for empty-arm mommies, but a hope for all who suffer.

So often in our Western Christianity, we keep our sufferings to ourselves. And when we have "recovered" we are often counseled to "move on". But we must share our stories. We must share the joys and the hope we find in the middle of our storms. Every person's storm is unique but our God is the same. No matter how insignificant our struggles may seem, anything that causes us to better know the Lord is a light in this dark world. We must allow these lights to shine, leading others to the hope of Christ.

Lord I thank You that You do not change. I thank You that all I have seen You do is available to all who believe. Thank You for Karen's testimony and for reminding me that You are present in every person's storm. I pray that You will continue to use Karen, and me, to share with others the greatness of Your comforting presence to those who are hurting.