Throughout the Bible, God tells us he’ll never abandon us. He assures us of his love and says he’s as close as our right hand. But sometimes, when going through life‘s hardest challenges, we wonder where he is.
Here in Rochester, as we do our best to take one day at a time, we often pray this:
“Father, please let us see you today. Give us a strong sense of your presence.” Those are good prayers, since sometimes God seems to have gone away.
Or has he?
Yesterday when Nelson was discouraged about not being able to leave the hospital, he and Ann Sophie prayed, asking God to deliver some specific encouragement. “Show us your unfailing love, Lord.“
It didn’t take him very long to show himself. As Ann Sophie was leaving Nelson’s hospital room, one of the nurses said, “I’m praying for you. We need the Lord to make your path straight.”
That’s a direct quote from Proverbs 3:6, and suddenly, there was God, speaking his own words over Ann Sophie.
In the hospital elevator, a young man saw baby Will and said, “Is it your baby that’s sick ?”
Ann Sophie said, “No.”
“That’s good,“ he said. “It’s not my baby, either. It’s me.“
“Is it cancer?“
“Yes, but I hope to get some time.“
Before he walked away he said, “Don’t ever give up. Just keep trusting the Lord.“ And there was God, with another important truth from his word.
A few minutes later, as Ann Sophie was leaving the hospital after dark, she’d forgotten where she’d parked the car and was walking around several blocks. A man looking like he might want to cause trouble approached her. Her inner defenses went up, especially since she had the baby with her.
When the man passed her by, he stopped, turned around, and said, “May God bless you and your little baby. And remember, Jesus loves you.“
Ann Sophie thanked him and saw God again. None of us believe these encounters are anything other than God himself moving in close with love, courage and a special message: “I’m here.”
Also, today he showed his loving kindness big-time by giving Nelson the desire of his heart—to come home!
Of course things aren’t perfect. His legs, feet and left arm are still badly swollen, and chemo-nausea kicked in tonight with some vomiting. Then the catheter into his right lung refused to drain. So it’s back to the clinic tomorrow for further tests and a troubleshooting ultrasound.
But tonight, none of that matters, because our Nelson is home.
Jesus told his disciples, “Because you have seen me, you believe….” (John 20:29)
Praise to God for revealing Himself in such specific ways. He is speaking to us all the time.
Glad he’s home, and good to see good ol’ Rob is with you all too.
Jim would often talk about going on a ‘God hunt’ at the end of each day. (I believe it was David Mains who coined the term). During times of stress in our family, we would look back on the day and be reminded of all the ways God’s presence was there even if we didn’t feel it or know it. As God ‘s beloved children, He never leaves us alone.