Good article.  Thanks for sharing.

Vicki

----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Scovell" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, June 09, 2004 10:44 AM
Subject: Where Is God When I Am Hurting?


> 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.
>
> I Flew Kites With Jesus
> www.SafePlaceFellowship.com