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Seeing God’s Love in Difficult Times
See what great love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called
children of God. And that is who we are.
— 1 John 3:1
How do we know when we are being blessed by God’s love? During my recent hospitalization for issues related to my heart, the hospital Chaplain reminded me that hospital stays are not always serene, blissful, and satisfying. They also can be painful. “The round-the-clock razor jabs to assess your sugar levels, blood draws by lab techs, checks of your vital functions, the constant noise of monitors, injections, etc. are the work of God through people who are devoting their lives to helping you heal. Simply, this is God’s love that you are receiving, too,” she said. “Now, let us give thanks. Heavenly Father, thank you for using my heart and soul to help this man understand and feel your love through the pains he is experiencing…,” she added.
During my stay, as I moved from one room to another, I had different roommates, both facing difficult end-of-life decisions. After family members left for the night, I asked Elias how he was doing, following the emotional meeting he experienced with his family and the medical staff most of the afternoon. I thought he was exhausted and would want to rest, but no. The experience energized him, and he spent at least an hour trying to reconcile all that was discussed until a lab technician came in to draw his blood for yet another test in preparation for major surgery. When Elias refused, despite the tech’s persistence, and asked the tech to leave, I realized Elias had decided his path forward. To me, nothing could have made the hand of God, working through his family and medical workers, clearer. That night, I purposely stayed awake, as he wept through his prayers, in case he wanted to continue our discussion. The next morning, he said that he included me and my family in his prayers.
Two days later, with the help of his daughter, he called me, concerned about my well-being. Needless to say, I felt God’s love through him and his daughter.
With my next roommate, Jim, I experienced the same painful ordeal my new friend was enduring, and I could see the hand of God at work even more clearly.
With the guidance of the chaplain, I was made to see that there are reasons for everything and to look for God’s work and meaning in all things.
For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so His loving devotion is mighty for those who fear him.
— Psalms 103:11
David Duran
McCurdy Ministries Foundation Board
Albuquerque, NM
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