For the last few years, my husband, son and I have racked up an enormous amount of medical bills.
Three years ago, my husband fell off our roof, unfortunately realizing he can’t fly. Two years ago, my life was nearly taken by a disease that devours my organs: endometriosis. A bit over a year ago, our miracle baby boy was born via emergency C-section to save his little life. All these life-changing events cost us thousands of dollars in medical bills from numerous facilities.
I share this glimpse into my family’s finances to help illustrate a very real point of life and belief in God, the Creator God of Scripture.
In all those moments — those raw, frightening, near-death moments — we would much rather not have gone through them. We would've much rather had God stop those traumas and challenges to stave off danger before the pain and hurt and expense.
However, the biggest lesson I’ve learned or relearned over the last few years is God doesn’t always stop hardships. Certainly, sometimes He does, and for that I am eternally grateful, but that isn’t always the case. More often than not, we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, and we are called to endure the heartache of this world.
I have learned that God still works, even during the challenges. Though it’s often impossible to see in the moment, He does work!
Sitting in the emergency room waiting to hear if your spouse is ok, wasting away from a hidden disease that no one understands and many called you crazy for and listening to the heartbeat of your child slow down dramatically, He is there. In those moments, it’s almost impossible to see what God is doing. Do we hold onto Him in those moments? Do we cry out to Him even if we don’t see the outcome?
They say that hindsight is 20/20, meaning later we see things perfectly. We can see how things turned out well. As irritating as that saying is, it’s true. After an event, we can see how it went well or badly, but it isn’t really till after the dust settles that we can see the real outcome clearly.
All of my family’s recent stories have ended well. My husband only sustained minor injuries from his roof incident. I’ve now had two major life-saving surgeries and found a team of doctors that can actually help me. Our son was born and he is growing well with no problems at all.
I am well aware that many who read this article have stories where their loved one wasn’t saved. They cried out to God and nothing miraculous happened and the person was lost. I am not wanting to minimize your pain and grief. Rather, I hope to draw to your mind the reality that even in hardship God is still there.
The fact that you are reading this article in this publication is likely proof that you believe in a real, living, Creator God who cares about you.
Scripture is filled with promises of God being with us through challenges and pain. In Psalm, David writes about how we are guaranteed challenges in life. This world is full of hardship, pain and loss. I could stop here and we would be left with depression and anxiety knowing what we have to face, but David doesn’t stop with that. He continues to say that God is with us through those hardships.
Psalm 23:4 says, "Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not fear for thou art with me."
God walks in the shadows with us. He is right beside us, crying and holding us as we go through hardships. If we think we love others in our lives, think how much more God loves that person. God never intended for us to have hardships and challenges; these are unfortunate results of sin in this world.
What God does intend is to be with us through everything in life. Often we can’t see He was there until we look back and see just how much He did for us, just how close He really was when we went through those challenges.
We will each face things in the future that will be rough. My prayer is that as we go through those moments, as we rack up medical bills or use up countless boxes of tissue, we would be reminded that God is right there. He will never leave you or forsake you. He will be with us in those miraculous moments and in the heart-shattering moments. He promises if we just hold tight to Him, He will help us to know He was there.
May you be encouraged as you go through life that you have a mighty Creator God who has promised to journey through life with you and who has promised a perfect eternal life with Him if you will keep holding tightly onto Him!
