God IS Working!

My eyes did not see God the night my 16- year-old son, Robbie, dove into a friend’s swimming pool and broke his neck.
My ears did not hear God telling me it would be OK and I certainly did not feel His mighty arms lift me to my feet after I collapsed in the hospital corridor. But God was there, for as I walked by faith through that dark night, I knew I could only walk because of Him.
It was not my eyes, nor my ears, nor a warm touch on my cold skin that comforted me. It was my faith in Him who has promised that He will never leave me. Yes, God was there, waiting for me to come running.
It was almost midnight when the doctor finally called us into a conference room. My husband sat down on his right, my daughter on his left. Me, I sat all the way at the other end of the table and only now do I realize it was because I didn’t want the information to reach me.
The words “He’s paralyzed” came across the long wooden table like little ugly creatures with big teeth and came at me with their black eyes and all intentions to kill me. I left the room.
I walked down the long hall to a bathroom to cry alone, but nothing came. I stood in front of the mirror and after several minutes of engaging with my own blank stare, I headed back down the hall to find my husband.
But after only a few steps my knees buckled. I fell back against the wall, slid down onto the floor, buried my face in my hands and the only way I can describe the sound that came from me, was that I wailed from the depths of my soul. My son was a quadriplegic.
As my husband lifted me to my feet and we turned slightly to the left I noticed something amazing. It was a long hallway and I believe the very place where I collapsed was no accident, as the other side of the wall was the hospital chapel and the door was wide open!
I knew that God was reaching out his hand right then and that I had a choice to make. I had the choice to remain in the hall, with the wall between me and God and continue to cry and wonder and question and eventually grow angry and resentful, or to step through that door and hand it over, to walk in and put my son in God’s hands. It was way too big for me anyway. It’s what I did and He has been ever present.
My son had been an avid surfer. He rode a quad. He played guitar. He had plans of becoming an architect. But God changed his plans. Surfing, four wheeling, and guitar playing were wonderful gifts Robbie enjoyed for several years, and as much as I cannot understand why my God chose to take them away, I do know in my heart that they will only be traded for greater gifts if we keep our eyes on him.
A woman asked me not long after Robbie’s injury “How do you maintain your faith when God has allowed such a tragedy in your life?” Funny thing is, I never considered what happened that night because of God’s absence. Robbie did not dive into the pool and break his neck because God let him fall.
He survived the incident because God lifted him up. He didn’t lose the use of his hands because God was asleep. No, he could still breath on his own, live, talk, laugh, learn and love AND move his arms Just enough to do architectural drawing on the computer because God knew that about Robbie.
I am convinced that He was not only awake that night but working. When something hurts, praise God for what doesn’t hurt! When something’s lost, praise God for what you still have! When someone’s gone, praise God for the time you had them.
I know that God’s ear is against Heaven’s wall every time I pray. And I know that He is working diligently in my son’s life.
As my son finishes his second year at Temple University with a GPA of 3.3, I have yet another thing to celebrate.
We exist on a single cut out of God’s enormous puzzle my friends. There is no way we can comprehend our piece without the box lid. But I can assure you that the picture on the lid is magnificent and that if you keep your eyes on Him, trust in Him, have faith, you will go to sleep each night with the anticipation of His smile the day He presses the part that’s you into His masterpiece.
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