I can clearly remember those days as a child when a birthday meant reaching an important new milestone. You know, when you turned 7, that was SO much older than 6, what an accomplishment! And when you reached 10, wow, double digits! Now, though, I tend to ignore the number of years and focus on the celebration of family.
This past week Kim and I were able to celebrate my birthday with 2 of my 3 children and my son-in-law, so it was automatically a great day. And our 3rd child, well, what college professor in his right mind schedules a major test on Friday, July 5th?? At first I thought that this prof must be a Bama graduate, but then I realized that Auburn would never hire a Bama grad, so I’m at a loss. Anyway, it was a fantastic day!
And because my birthday happens to be July 4th, it was our nation’s birthday as well. I hope you took the time last week to thank God for our amazing country! Yes, we have our issues and problems, but we are still the greatest nation on earth, so let’s make sure we thank God for that. I also hope you were able to watch a fireworks show in honor of my birthday!
My primary thoughts concerning last week, however, are not about my birthday or our nation’s birthday. You see, tragically, in the summer of 2017 two of our dearest friends were killed in an auto accident. I still remember getting that phone call in the middle of the night. Our friends left behind 3 young adult children who are each precious to us. Last Saturday the oldest child was married, and we couldn’t be more happy for her. Two years ago it would have seemed impossible for this day to be happy. No mother to help plan the wedding and shop for the dress, no dad to walk down the aisle and present the bride. But the wedding was happy. Why?
Well, first, because we know that our friends are OK. They are more than OK, they are perfect! Scott and Pam each accepted Christ’s forgiveness many years ago, and we know that they are in God’s presence today. They thought they were going out on a date to see a movie, but they arrived together, as a couple, in the waiting arms of Jesus. As many times as we’ve all thought that we wish they could be here for this wedding, we really don’t feel that way. There is no way we would want them to leave where they are and come back here. No way.
And second, (or maybe this should be first, how in the world do you rank these?) we’ve been able to see God work in the lives of those three children over the past two years. In fact, we’ve experienced him working in our lives as well. To go through a time like this is always catastrophic, but to walk through it with a loving Heavenly Father makes all the difference. To go through this with a Creator who is there pouring his peace into your life, who is there holding you up when you don’t think you can stand, who is there with his arms wrapped around you as you break down into sobbing, to go through this with God makes all the difference. David was exactly right when he wrote these words…
The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those who are crushed in spirit.
Psalm 34:18, NLT
If you are going through a difficult time, I pray that you will lean on the only One who can truly give you peace and healing, the One who created all that we can see and all of the things we can’t see, the One who is in absolute control of his creation, the One who loves you more than we can even comprehend. When you are crushed in spirit and brokenhearted, turn to Jesus. He will never let you down.