It makes me sad, in a way, that we often need a disaster to “get right with God.” Foxhole conversions seem cheap, and I wonder if they’ll last.
But then, if I’m honest with myself, when I look back on my own life, I find that it was during the difficult moments—like when I was homeless with a wife and a little baby with birth defects, when our marriage was threatened, when I was hungry, when loved ones wrestled with addictions—that I grew in ways I did not expect.
While I wouldn’t wish any of those things on you, I look back on them and see only the kindness of God. These challenging moments in my life jarred something deep inside me—something that God was trying to get at, so He could show me who He really is.
And what emerged from these challenges is a beautiful vision of God. My cynicism was stripped away, and I realized that God Himself was the friend I had been searching for all my life.
I don’t know what the future holds for you, but I do pray that you will have life-altering encounters with God, and that you will emerge from our present crisis with your feet more solidly on the ground, and a smile inside that says, “I am in the company of God Himself, on a mission to bring good into many lives, and I will not be shaken.”
Much love from our home to yours!
Dwight
