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Sep 24, 2023 06:00am

How Did I End Up Here?

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One of the most harrowing realities I have faced as an adult is that sometimes you can do everything right, and things can still go terribly wrong.

My Summer was plodding along slowly and beautifully. I was taking care of my body, mind, and soul, just as I needed. Then, bam. A Summer storm unlike any other I’ve seen bore down on our town. Trees that had grown for 150 years were destroyed in moments as they twisted and snapped off like toothpicks falling on top of one another and blocking main roads.

When the winds calmed and the skies cleared, the real stress set in. There was no electricity and with the amount of damage, we knew there wouldn’t be any for several days. Temperatures were forecasted to be over 100 degrees and did I mention my husband was out of town?

After several nights of little to no sleep, in spite of my best efforts, my body let me know that it was time to head to the emergency room where I was admitted for three days and subjected to test after test. The stress had taken its toll.

“How did I end up here?” was the question running through my mind as I lay there hooked up to tubes and monitors. Wasn’t I doing everything right? How did things go so wrong?

Paul’s words to the Corinthians rang loudly in my ears. “We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long for the day when we will put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing…Our dying bodies make us groan and sigh…We want to slip into our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by everlasting life. God Himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee He has given us His Holy Spirit.” 2 Corinthians 5:4-5.

Maybe you’ve felt that way in your own body recently. Groaning and sighing, wondering when the suffering would pass, just as I was in that hospital room. If this is where you find yourself, there are three things I want you to know.

1. It will pass. Whether it is in this life or the next, one day, it will be over and your new body, untainted by the fall, will be perfectly whole. If you find yourself longing for that day, do not be alarmed. You are in good company with Paul and me. He longed for that day. I long for that day alongside you.

2. God is with you. Read verse 5 again: God Himself has prepared us for this (everlasting life in our new bodies) AND as a guarantee He has given us His Holy Spirit. When we look at our outward bodies or hospital rooms, there is no guarantee. BUT, when we look inward, upon the Holy Spirit dwelling in us, we have the assurance that we are not forsaken, and that everlasting life lies ahead.

3. God answered prayers that I had been praying for months while I laid in that hospital room suffering. Whatever the enemy was intending for evil, God worked together for my good and the good of so many in my life. Keep your eyes open while you’re suffering. Miracles are happening.

I cannot tell you how to take control. Control is an illusion. I cannot tell you when it will end. Only God knows. But I can tell you that He delights in every detail of your life (Psalm 37:23) and has given you His Spirit as your guarantee, your helper, your counselor, your reminder, that this is not the end of the story. Everlasting life awaits.