It’s been one year. One year since the day our son, Ben, went running at top speed across wet grass after a runaway kite and slipped and broke his hip. Ever the optimist, his verbal reaction in the emergency room, to the news that he would be having surgery to repair the break, was, “It’s hard to keep a cheerful personality down for long.” Cheerful he was on the outside, but it still wasn’t easy.
Yes, thirteen years old, and broke his hip. Who does that? I’ll tell you who—the one for whom God had an out of the ordinary plan to refine his character. Some lessons were learned right away. He wrote about eight pages in the first six weeks about what the Lord was teaching him, and more in the next few weeks. I shared some of his insights earlier on this blog. However, the perspective that a year brings has highlighted even more character changes we’d have never foreseen or even guessed in a million years.
Earlier this week, we saw Ben’s orthopedic surgeon on the one-year anniversary of his fall. She was very impressed with the healing. In the new x-rays, you can’t even see where the break in the bone was, except, of course, for the three telltale screws, which bear testimony to something out of the ordinary. Humanly speaking, there had been a moderate risk of part of the bone dying and crumbling, requiring a hip replacement. We are so grateful for the Lord’s gift of adequate blood supply to the bone, keeping it alive. Ben thanked the surgeon for her good work, but she said that his body did the healing, to which Ben responded that it was actually the Lord who did that.
After we got out to the car to return home, Ben remarked that, if he had it to do over, he wouldn’t have it any other way. His sister’s reaction to that was that she wouldn’t go chasing the kite. But Ben was serious. We asked him to elaborate. . .
“Can this really be happening?” I thought, when I heard the news at the hospital. “Why me? Why Now? Why did this have to happen?” Well, some might call it being unlucky, but I call it Providence. God decided that I should break my leg, go to the hospital, and spend the next several months getting back on my feet. But it wasn’t just some random decision on God’s part. He says in His word that He knows the plans He has for us, plans to prosper us and not to harm us. I believe that God used this time to really grow me, and teach me.
The first thing God taught me is that He always has a reason for our difficulties. So, back to my original question, “Why did this have to happen?” Well, I believe that God brings into His children’s lives these little things called trials. Now the word “trial” has a natural negative connotation it, but that really shouldn’t be. We think of trials as very hard, difficult times in our lives, something like climbing a huge mountain that never seems to end. But we learn through God’s word that God thinks of trials as a way to grow us and show us new things, something like the amazing, beautiful view off the top of that mountain. To sum that up, man mostly thinks of trials in terms of the climb and difficulty, or the view from the bottom, but God sees trials, not only as the climb, but also as a way to grow us and show us new things. In other words, God views our mountainous trials from the top, seeing both our climb and the view. He always has a reason for our mountains that is for our good.
Something else that God taught me is that He is faithful. You probably can’t imagine the size of the inward gulp that I had when we heard the results of the x-rays. A broken leg—that meant surgery. Now I don’t know about you, but I think most people my age aren’t in the business of having surgery. I’m not! So when 8 o’clock rolled around the next morning (the scheduled time for surgery), I was quite nervous. But after we had prayed, and gone down several floors, and into the surgery area, I had a lack of fear that I can’t explain, other than it being God’s peace. I woke up after surgery and all was just fine. God is faithful. This really had an impact on me, because if God can get me through the most scary and difficult time in my life so far, then, of course, He can get me through my math lesson! God is faithful.
Lastly, God taught me something regarding work. Long difficult math problems, working outside pulling weeds, and doing chores were not something I used to enjoy at all. And now I will use my two favorite words…but God changed me while I was sitting down! Not being able to do so much for so long made me want to be able to do work. I mentioned earlier the second thing God taught me, and it applies to this, too. If God can get me through my experiences at the hospital, then God can certainly get me though my everyday life! God has changed me. Now I like work, I know that it is a good thing that God has given us to do, which honors Him and parents, and I know that God can get me through anything (and that includes every kind of work under the sun).
Someone could say that I’ve had a very unlucky year full of difficult times and climbs, but I say it has been a wonderful time of refining by God. Looking back on this year, I can see both the climb and the outcome, and I know that it was worth it. If I had this year to do over again, I wouldn’t have it any other way! ~Ben
"Consider it all joy, my brethren,
when you encounter various trials,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
And let endurance have its perfect result,
that you may be perfect and complete,
lacking in nothing."
James 1:2-4
Note from Carol: By the way, if you haven't heard the song God gave me to write and share with our family only about 36 hours before this storm in Ben's life, you can listen here. I want you to see what God did!
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