Phil,
That is excellent. I do appreciate you sharing that with us.
Thanks.
Love,
Pat Ferguson
At 10:54 PM 8/7/04, you wrote:
>This article came to mind one day this week. I felt the Lord telling me to
>read my own article. I started but got interrupted. Tonight I went back,
>remembering I had not finished reading it, and read it again. I believe
>somebody on here needs to here this. I know I did and I wrote it. Yes, I
>know you have all read this before. So? If you don't need it; don't read
>it.
>
>
>Where Is God When I Am Hurting?
>
>By Phil Scovell
>
>
>
> I was probably about 8 or 9 years old when it happened. When
>I got bored and couldn't find anything to do, I would always go
>and ask mom. Her answer was always the same, "Spit in your shoe."
>Very creative. When I got old enough to have a come back such as,
>"What else can I do besides that, mom?" Her answer was always the
>same, "Ask me again and I'll tell you the same." No help there, I
>reasoned. When I got bored, however, I always did the one thing I
>really loved and that was riding my bike.
>
> I would ride around my block because two sides of the square
>were busy streets with lots of traffic and two corners had gas
>stations. I would pump for all I was worth and roll as fast as I
>could go. One side was slightly down hill, too, and I could get
>my bike up to over 30 miles an hour. I had to be careful around
>the two gas stations because cars were, of course, always coming
>and going but I kept a sharp eye out as I made the rounds.
>
> One day, I decided to reverse my run and ride counter
>clockwise. I have no idea why I made this decision but it was
>just something different to do.
>
> At one corner was a used car lot. It was small and the
>owners lived on my street above the car lot on a pretty high hill.
>His office building for the car lot was literally built right up
>to the sidewalk which ran in front of the business. thus, when
>making the turn to the right around his building to empty out on
>my street, you could see nothing in advance. You just had to pray
>nobody was there. One day, my prayers were not answered.
>
> As I made the turn, there was a car, big as life, directly in
>front of me. He was on the wrong side of the road. He wasn't
>supposed to be there. Why was he there in the first place? I
>stomped down on my breaks with all the strength I could muster
>but slammed directly into the car bumper and fell off my bike into
>the street. The man jumped out and helped me. He thought he had
>killed me I'm sure. I was scared, not because of what had just
>occurred but what could have occurred. I kept insisting I was all
>right as the man helped me pick my bike up. Fortunately, I had
>slowed just enough that my bike sustained no damage. The man
>inquired as to my safety one more time and I insisted I was fine
>and everything was ok. He let me go.
>
> As I peddled home, I realized how easily I could have been
>hurt, or even killed, by doing what I had just done. From then
>on, I never rounded that corner without nearly stopping to a crawl
>in order to peak around to see if anybody was in the way. To this
>day, I cannot figure out why that man's car was on the wrong side
>of the road.
>
> Have you ever found yourself on the right side of the wrong
>side of something? As far as you know, things are going along
>normally. Nothing is different. You've made few changes that
>should effect anything in your life. Suddenly, wham. You are on
>the ground eating dirt. Where was God? Why did He let it happen?
>You are scared and all sorts of horrible thoughts detonate deep
>within your imagination and you think all types of wild hideous
>frightening thoughts. Maybe you just found out you have cancer.
>Perhaps you just lost your best friend. Maybe a parent died after
>suffering far too long. Perhaps one of your children, or
>grandchildren, are hurt and need emergency surgery. Perhaps your
>mate announces they want a divorce. Maybe you found out your 17
>year old daughter has had an abortion or your 16 year old son is
>HIV positive. Maybe your Christian wife of 12 years, who has been
>working in the church with you as the youth pastor, announces she
>is lesbian and leaves you. I had a man one day sitting in my
>office who told me he had been diagnosed as schizophrenic. A
>pastor friend called me one day and asked if I knew any Christian
>counselors. I asked why. My friend said, a good pastor friend of
>his lived in California. The man was married, had four children,
>and had been pastoring all his adult life. He was in his mid
>fifties. He had announced to his wife he was leaving her and the
>church because he was a latent homosexual. What if one day, as a
>friend of mine did, you and your friends go out to the lake where
>you always swim. Diving in, the water is too shallow and you
>strike your head. When they drag you out just before you drown,
>you learn you are paralyzed from the neck down for the rest of
>your life. Maybe you learn your fourteen year young daughter is
>pregnant. What if you are a little boy or girl coming home from
>school only to be told your father died that day. Where is God at
>all these times?
>
> The answer is too simple for human minds to remotely
>comprehend. God is where He has always been and that is with you.
>Sometimes you even get to see him. My mom did when my father
>died. Jesus stood on the other side of the bed and when my mom
>looked up, she saw Him. She said she could have reached across
>the bed and touched; Him because He was that real. Mom said,
>"You've come to take him?" Jesus said, "Yes. I have come for
>him." Mom let dad go. I believe that is the key, that is,
>letting go. Sometimes that isn't possible without help from some
>friend who loves you and that I understand very well. Some of
>these things I have mentioned I have experienced myself. I have
>finally learned, through the pain and the fears and the tears,
>that Jesus is always with us and at the end of life, we will find
>Him there as well.
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