“The Lord has taken away your punishment, he has turned back your enemy. The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you; never again will you fear any harm” (Zephaniah 3:15, NIV).
I have experienced pain many times and in many ways. I lost my only son, my father, my mother, and my brothers, and each loss was unspeakably painful. Facing a sudden, painful divorce caught me emotionally off guard. Receiving the report that my oldest daughter had a malignant tumor on her leg, and that they might have to amputate it, was devastating. I believe deeply in the power of prayer, so I visited every church in the area where I lived, asking for them to pray for her. One of these churches was named ‘No More Suffering.” They prayed fervently for my request. I never knew what their doctrines were, but I was thankful that they would pray for this girl they didn’t know. Many churches prayed, and the tumor turned out to be benign. The surgery was paid for by the country’s president, and her leg was saved! God is good. “If you calmly and trustfully contemplate the promises of God, and by simple, childlike faith claim them as your own, you will find that the darkness will vanish.”—Series and herald, March 26, 1889.
Recently, my husband nearly died of a heart attack. In anguish I cried out, “Lord, help me!!” while I pressed on his chest with my fists. An angel must have given him first aid, because I didn’t even realize what I was doing. My husband reacted, and the ambulance came in on time. The doctors said that because of my husband’s age, the severity of the attack, and his history of a previous heart attack, it was a miracle that he had survived. God is faithful. At the time, I was recovering from cancer myself, and my body could not take any more. Four days later, I also had a heart attack, without any explanation except the Stress of what I had gone through. God, who lives in me, is greater and more powerful than every trial and pain I must face.
When you understand who God is and you recognize the enemy behind the scenes, suffering will make sense. Wait patiently for the day when all our trials will be over, and God will complete His divine work in us. God offers daily a divine exchange: our sins for His forgiveness, our wounds for His healing balm, our sorrows for His joy.
Let us surrender to Him the guilt that we feel, the sorrows of the soul that weigh down on us. In spite of the fact that pain is part of our daily lives, if we focus on Jesus He can heal on r broken hearts and use us to dry the tears of others. *
*Barbara Johnson, Boomerang Joy (Zondervan, 1998).
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Taken from: Devotional Thoughts for Women 2023
“DAUGHTER OF MINE” Do Not Be Afraid
From: Arsenia Fernandez-Uckele
Collaborators: Angelica Cuate & Esteban Cortes
