God is Calming the Storm. Here is Testimony about how God will sometimes use the turmoil in our lives to teach us about who he really is and what it means to us.
Always In Control
Calming The Storm
21 There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord, that shall stand.
Need to Control
The need to control my life has always been one of my weaknesses. A broken home at a young age had subjected me to some trauma. I always felt my life was spinning out of control. Who should I trust or where would I end up next I could never predict and it kept me off balance. I think the result was a need to control every situation. So that I would not feel afraid all the time I developed a coping method. I would reason out a worse-case scenario and a solution for every feasible contingency in a given situation. Once I had that completed in my head I could relax and forget about it. And If it happened there was always a plan, I knew what to do at least in theory.
Control or Abandon
I continued like that all the way up through my adult life. Anytime that I felt I was losing control of a given situation I would abandon it. But as long as I could anticipate what would happen and as long as I had a choice in what would happen to me I could cope. I could always reason things out and come up with a contingency plan. I am fairly intelligent and very resourceful it was always going to be ok.
Mom Broke Her Hip
We got an unexpected call from my Aunt telling me that my mother had fallen and broken her hip. She was being transported to the hospital by ambulance.
Mother lived in another state about six hours away. My Aunt lived in a state about 5 hours away. My sibling and I were packing a suitcase and jumping in the car to head to her. We were her only children. During our broken home life we had become somewhat estranged from her. We spoke but the relationship we had was superficial, we did not really know each other that well anymore.
Battling Cancer Again
She had told us that she was battling cancer again. This time it was breast cancer and she did not want to treat anymore. No more chemotherapy or anything she was treating herself holistically. She had already had female cancer and cancer in her bowl some years before. It had been a hard thing to go through.
Building a Relationship
I had actually been calling and speaking with her pretty frequently for the first time in years. We were building a relationship. She was actually talking to me. She had begun calling me and crying sometimes telling me there was a really bad pain in her arm and the doctor would not give her enough medicine. I would try to comfort her but I was not as compassionate as I should have been I am ashamed to say. Work and the monotonies of life dominated my focus. But I was trying to play the role of a supportive child.
Out of Control
Calming The Storm
28 He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.
Mom’s Afraid of Caregivers
We are on the road to where she is to find out what is going on. Mom is already in the hospital. A broken hip from the fall and a knee bone had blown out. Cancer had eaten it away. And yes, they tell us that she has systemic cancer and it is in her bones. Hence that pain in her arm she has been crying about. Cancer at an advanced stage. The condition requires a rehabilitation facility. Systemic cancer makes a rehabilitation facility challenging in her condition and she is afraid of it. Money for any kind of home care is more difficult. Medicare approves payment for a rehabilitation facility but not for at home care. The doctor says she may only have two to possibly three months left to live.
A Cry to God
Every possible scenario is going through my head at one hundred million miles an hour. There is no solution to this situation. There is no method of control. I can feel the turbulence rising inside me, she is going to die and there is nothing that we can do about any of this. What are the options we are faced with, what is there to consider? And as that tide rises up into a raging storm I cry out to God what do I do, what do I do? Help me I don’t know what to do!
Suddenly Calm
Calming The Storm
27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
The Peace of God
Then suddenly it occurs to me whatever happens is what is supposed to happen, it is in God’s hands. It is not our decision it is up to the will of God. And as quickly as that storm rose up the waters were a dead calm. He touched me with the peace that only he can give.
A Matter of Faith
My Aunt is spinning out of control in front of me, my sister is obviously emotional but trying to calm her down. I am repeating, it’s going to be ok whatever happens is what is supposed to happen. It is in the hands of God now. My Aunt looks at me and says, “I wish I could have your faith I can’t believe you are so calm.” And the truth is I really was.
We talked more about it and I assured them that she may die but that if she did there was a reason for it. We were not meant to understand everything. Maybe it was to save her from pain and suffering.
Divine Intervention
Calming The Storm
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
At Home Care
So we continue on to cope with this situation. Mother finds a neighbor who will come stay with her at a very reasonable rate but there is no money to pay them. Mother is sure that her sister is going to take care of this for her but behind the scenes she cannot do it. Her husband has said absolutely not since she had just done so for my Grandmother who had passed away early that same year. They had just escaped that financial strain and he did not feel they could take on another one.
Threats from a disgruntled nurse at the hospital had mother upset. A rehabilitation facility terrified her in such a weakened state. They kept trying to force her to get up and walk but this is not feasible with bone cancer. It could actually be very dangerous but communication is not always what it should be and she is in there for a broken hip so...
The Financial Perspective
I was working in marketing at the time. It was on a salary plus commission. I received my commissions at the end of every quarter. However, I had a small savings and we figured out how much this neighbor would charge. She needed some minor modifications at her home and at least the first three weeks of care up front. There was enough in my current commission check to handle it. I explained that I did not know how much my commission check would be but if she would take care of Mother I would come up with the rest of it by the end of the quarter.
However, we could not tell Mother it was coming from me, it would break her heart to find out my Aunt had not agreed to take care of her. Well we got mother set up. And I gave her caregiver what I had with the understanding that we would bring the rest on the next trip up.
Don’t Have Enough Money
Now I was going into a panic about how we were going to do this. Intermittently that storm would rise up again and the turbulence would start to build. Then I would stop myself and say whatever happens is supposed to happen. The peace would come back again like a wave. I kept praying.
Things had been really slow at that time of year in Software Sales. Suddenly as we neared the end of the quarter the meetings that I needed to qualify my commissions just started landing in my lap at work. I did not even do anything for some of them they were incoming responses to feelers I had put out over the entire year. Even my boss and coworkers were commenting on the unlikelihood of what was happening all of a sudden.
I was thanking the Lord for my Blessings each time and letting them know in no uncertain terms that to God goes the Glory.
Divine Intervention
I really had no doubt something divine was occurring. The absolute affirmation came when the amount of my commission bonus turned out to be the exact amount that I needed for Mother’s care down to the penny. What are the odds that would happen without divine intervention? It was without a doubt that the Lord took care of the situation for us through our Faith. Nothing is a coincidence.
To God Be The Glory
Calming The Storm
21 He is thy praise, and he is thy God, that hath done for thee these great and terrible things, which thine eyes have seen.
Mom Passes
When the Lord works his miracles he makes sure to do so in a way that leaves no doubt as to what has happened. And I believe that he does all things for good not only of one person but so that others will see and benefit from the knowledge as well. I told everyone I knew how God had given us the money we needed by intervention. The call came the week of Thanksgiving about a decline in mothers condition. Mom passed away the week after. The Lord calmed the storm there was no question. God granted both me and my mother the peace needed.
God Is Alive
I began to realize that God was alive, that he was listening to me, responding to me it opened up my eyes. There is something real, a living God who has a relationship with me, who can communicate with me. Who loves me and wants to help me. Something I did not realize in quite this way before this had happened. God had been distant to me, I knew he was real but I never thought of him as tangible. That his presence could be relayed in a tangible way, something we could touch and feel. And yet, here it was. God is Alive, he sees me, he wants to know me and that is something wonderful in my life. Let me introduce you to the Living God!
If you want to have a personal relationship with God take the first step. You must really decide that you want to lay your life down for him and accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Tell him that you need him and really mean it. Humble yourself at the feet of the Savior. He will guide you the rest of the way…
For The Love of God,
Sparks
