I also find myself reflecting on the whirlwind of a month since Tom was diagnosed. We had high hopes and expectations that he was going to be miraculously healed. After all, wouldn't that be the best witness to God's goodness?!
When that did not happen, all the emotions rose to the surface in my heart as I was disappointed. I really did not want him to have to go through chemo and it was hard to understand why the Lord would want that for him as well.
Still both of us have chosen to trust.
I am also thinking about how suffering doesn't cause us to be broken but just brings to the surface what is already there. Somehow though, when we join that brokenness to Christ, he turns it into something sweet. I am beginning to taste that sweetness as Jesus has been very present to us. It has me reflecting how I would much rather be broken and have Christ than be whole and not have him. Thinking we are whole without Christ however is just an illusion.
This week I am also in the middle of leading crafts for our church's VBS. Today's theme is "When life is sad...God is good!". Our craft is a safari sun-catcher with a silhouette of an animal against a sunrise. The teaching connection with the craft and the theme is how there is always hope in Christ, the sun always comes up over the horizon and we can always put our trust in Him. God is good all the time even when life doesn't go as we had planned!
I know God will have the last word and ultimately be glorified in this situation! He can make beauty from ashes (Isaiah 61:3)!
