Building my Faith

I’ve been in a bit of a funk lately. I’m not particularly fond of “funky” times, but they do happen and I try to just ride them out. A funny thing about times like this is that I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that getting into my Bible, and immersing myself in God’s word, will be the best thing for me and, at the same time, it’s the hardest thing in the world for me to do. Why is that? It’s like knowing, when you are sick, that if you take some really yummy tasting medicine you’ll get better and being too lazy to get out of bed to take it.

Thankfully, God has alternate plans for lazy people such as myself. Yesterday, God lovingly sent two people my way to encourage my faith. This all happened in the grocery store parking lot of our small town. This, by the way, is the same grocery store that I’ve whined about many times in my blog. It’s the only one in town.

The first person God sent my way was a friend who recently lost his eye to cancer. I know, you are wondering how in the world this encouraged me. Keep reading, I’m not there yet. My friend shared with me the incredible love that filled him as he awoke from surgery. He knew that it was because of the prayers of so many people. He’d been told by his doctor that the procedure for the removal was really quite simple, medically speaking, but terribly challenging for the patient emotionally. I can imagine! Yet my friend stood there, just a week after surgery, totally in love with Jesus, knowing that God would use all of this for His glory. God had orchestrated so many things surrounding his diagnosis and treatment that continually reminded my friend of Christ’s love for him. I know God will use his story, he already has. Oh, and the really cool part, my friend had a full body scan to determine if there were any other areas of cancer. They found a spot on his liver. This caused a bit of discouragement and worry, but also a lot of prayer. He was quickly sent to whoever it is that specializes in this type of cancer, another scan was run, and the spot was nowhere to be seen. There is no doubt in my mind, or his, that this was a miracle of God.

As we stood there talking, a former neighbor came over to talk with us. Well, truth be told, he came to talk to my friend, but I’m sure he was thrilled to talk to me, too. Anyway, this man’s grandson lost his leg in Iraq, or maybe it was Afghanistan, but you know, somewhere over there. Again, this doesn’t seem like a faith building story, until you hear about the young man’s response. Two things struck me while hearing it. One was the fact that the Marines had just recently started using a new type of transportation in the war. I can’t tell you what they are called but they are being used instead of Humvees. Apparently, this young man’s unit was hit during an attack by the Taliban and their vehicle sustained immense damage, causing the loss of this young man’s leg below his knee. Had they not been driving this new type of vehicle, they would have all lost their lives.

The second thing that I heard was even more amazing. This young soldier called his mother from the hospital shortly after losing his leg. He said, “I know that everything happens for a reason and I’m glad to be alive.” What an amazing attitude!

So, even funks happen for a reason. A little attitude adjustment, and some time in God’s word, are definitely in order. I have much for which to be thankful, and a loving God to remind me when I forget.