It's Who God Is

On August 20th, I celebrated 35 years of marriage to my best friend, Brad. 

On August 28th, Brad woke up in the morning in the midst of a stroke.

After we arrived at the emergency room, and as he lay on the bed with his stroke symptoms worsening, I watched at his side and thought, "This could be it. I could lose him." 

As the emotion of the reality of the situation overtook me, the very next thought that came to me is, "God." Just God Himself.

And the thought was this: 

"It isn't what God will or won't do, it's who God is." 

With that, a peace enveloped my being, and I said to God, "Okay, God. Whatever happens, good or bad, okay."

And that assurance of God Himself in Christ stays with me today, fourteen days in to Brad's recovery. 

I am overjoyed that Brad is doing well, and responding to the rehabilitation of his left side that was affected by the stroke. His mind is fine and good and healthy. 

We are truly fortunate.

My husband and I have considered during these last two weeks how thankful we are to God for building, throughout the past eighteen years, our faith in Him and His Son Jesus Christ. 

It is that established relationship with God in Christ, rooted and prospered in the daily ups and downs of life, that came through when the rubber of major crisis hit the road.

A few days after the stroke, I read these verses, and they couldn't be more true for a time such as this:

"In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God." Romans 8:26-27

Brad and I are entering new territory together. And God in Christ, as always, is right here with us.