Case in point: I had a car accident in 2014 while still wearing a volunteer shirt after cleaning up a plot of land that had been ravaged by tornadoes. If karma existed, my karmic outlook for that day would have won me a guest pass to the pearly gates. Based on that analysis and others I have witnessed, I would feel like a hypocrite if I claimed to believe it. Plus, I am not God, so there's that.
But IF I did believe in it, I would have wanted it during one point in my life and here's why: During the span of these 36 years, I have hit rock bottom. Not necessarily because of something I did, because there has been that, but because life's circumstances decide to rain on my parade.
At one point in my life, I was shaken. But it was during this time that I felt the strongest connection to God than ever before. My fear was replaced with calm, my anger was turned to sympathy, and my cries of desperation to be saved from a bad situation did not fall on ears that had turned away, but instead on the heart of God where the rescue by the Most Almighty Prince came quick.
Not on a white horse, but instead a Lamb. My world was shaken but my foundation was strong, and I was saved.
But why me? Why you?
Not long after my encounter with God, my desperation weakened and I rejoiced in the fact that I had been carried out to the other side where things were solid again. My heart was full of praise and filled with a new song. But later I longed to be back. I longed to feel my Father hold me closely and whisper in my ear again. I wanted to be desperate again.
Beloved, I cannot tell you why bad things happen. I can't tell you why your child went to heaven before you did. I can't tell you why you were given that diagnosis. I can't tell you why your family fell apart. Or why you can't seem to see beyond the everyday blinders that keep you restrained with anxiety and worry.
But what I can tell you is that God will carry you like he carried me. There will come a time when you will be able to see it, though it might be hard now.
And take it from me: you can always be desperate for God. You don't have to have a cataclysmic shift in your life like I did to feel the presence of the One who is always with you. Being desperate for Him can come at any time. I know that there is always a possibility that something could stir things up, but my desperation for an encounter will not change as soon as my roller coaster flies downward at a speed of one-hundred miles per hour.
I don't believe that God allows bad things to happen to us, but I do think He is capable of making them beautiful.
Dear God,
I have friends that are hurting. They are scared. They are in a place where I once was. Now is your time, Lord. I pray protection for them. I pray that even as they read this, they would know that You know their name, You know their situation, and You have everything in the palm of Your hand. Let them truly feel you hugging up next to them and whispering in their ear, "Everything is going to be okay. Trust me. I've got it handled." Let them encounter you, Father.
And God, thank You. For the trials and the heartaches; for the blessings and assurances; for peace and love. And for responding in our moments of desperation.
Amen.
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