When our greatest fears and nightmares become realities
“I’m sick and I’m coming home,” was the cry of my husband of seven years and father to our four small children on the other end of the phone. As I awaited his return, I felt God whisper, “Your greatest fear has been realized.” Upon his arrival, I learned that he had been unfaithful to me in our marriage, and was sicker than we ever imagined. God spoke to me again saying, “This will be a transition time, but it will be for your good and My glory.”
Six years and four babies later, my husband again confessed his marital unfaithfulness. What began with one peek into the world of pornography had now spread like a cancer of the mind and soul. Within 24 hours, the physical end to that sickness came when my husband chose to take his own life. I had just finished bathing my last little one when a policeman came to my door. When he knocked, I knew before the words came out of his mouth that my greatest nightmare had become reality. My husband had chosen death over life. I found it to be true that God would use this transition “For my good and His glory.”
As a mother, I was not known for being a “Band-Aid” mom. After a quick kiss on the boo-boo and with little mercy, I would send my children on their way until I learned the power of a little Band-Aid. At one desperate point with a boo-boo and distraught child, I pulled out a glittery Band-Aid, slapped it over the wound, and discovered the comforting benefits of that simple Band-Aid. Oh if I had only learned that lesson earlier in life! Instantly, the crying child knew that someone cared! The crying subsided, and the child felt acknowledged. No, the healing didn’t begin until God performed His deep work, but during that time of transition the child was at peace knowing that someone cared. You can believe that I became a “Band-Aid” mom! Frog, princess, and other versions of Band-Aids remained on-hand in value size packages, to comfort my children.
God provides a similar form of “Band-Aid” for us in the body of Christ. When one of His children experiences injury and pain from life’s boo-boos, He sends His “body” to the aid of the hurting one. This Band-Aid acts as one of the many vessels of His “Grace and Peace”.
The Apostle Paul prayed “Grace and Peace be unto you.”
GRACE = Divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in life
God’s glitter Band-Aid = reflection of Jesus through the body of Christ
PEACE = Quietness and rest
Knowing that God is in control
As I look back on that day, I praise God that when the policeman knocked, Grace and Peace knocked as well, entering my life in tangible ways. When I told my children their life-changing news, I was carried and directed by Grace: the power of God working through the body of Christ and the Holy Spirit enabling me to do what I could never do in my own strength. God began to re-direct our focus, “Children, you have a new daddy. Your earthly daddy is gone…dead. But God will be your Father, because the Bible promises, ‘He is a Father to the fatherless.’ Deep in our hearts and spirits, Peace planted its seed—a peace that surpasses all understanding.
May God give you Grace and Peace to accept the difficult events in your life trusting that God is working.
For your good and His glory!
“For all things are for your sakes, so that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God.”
– 2 Corinthians 4:15
