Faith Through Trial

Sitting in the car, my sisters and I chatted as we waited for my mom to return from the AT&T store. She was buying a new phone. It was wet and windy outside, but in the car, it was warm and cozy. The minutes dragged on. Heads nodded. All of a sudden, the most unexpected thing happened- sirens flared, and some police cars shot past us. There was an uncomfortable silence. The reason for the sirens, no one could guess.
Meanwhile, as my mom sat in the AT&T store, waiting on the saleslady, an attendant mentioned that a tornado had just touched down a few streets away, and everyone needed to be ready to get into the safe room, if things got bad.
Miles away in Dallas, my aunt and grandmother shopped at the Galleria. They were picking out gifts for my cousins, Georgia and Emily. In Lindale, red lights flashed, and the wind picked up, but they did not know.
At the Old Mill Pond Museum, in Lindale TX, my cousins, Georgia and Emily, were exploring. The two girls ran excitedly through each of the exhibits, looking at old tools, toys, and buildings. After an hour or so, they left, and returned home.
What none of us knew, or were expecting, was that a tornado was touching down right next to our cousins’ home- at that very moment! It was truly horrifying. After discovering the news, me, my mom, and sisters, left the AT&T store, and drove up to the Pierce’s house to check on it. It was like driving into a nightmare. The front yard was littered with trees and tree limbs. No one could actually see the house. Their electric gate was stuck closed. Suddenly, up the drive ran Georgia and Emily. It was so relieving to know that they were alright. There, in the rain, we cried together and comforted one and other.
We were so happy to discover that no one was hurt, and the house was not damaged. I was reminded of God’s hand, which is watching over us every moment. If the tornado had been a few feet closer to the house, and if my cousins had not been detained by their Dad’s issues at work, and my aunt not in Dallas, miles away, things could have turned out much differently.
Over twenty years ago, my aunt, aged 12, was knocked out of a go-cart at an amusement park. She suffered serious head injury, and was sent from the top of her class, back to the basics. She barely survived. Only a few years after that, my would-be-aunt Shawna was killed in a car accident. She was sitting in the back seat, right next to a little baby that she had been babysitting. As her car passed a street intersection, another car whizzed past a stop sign, colliding into Shawna’s car. Both Shawna and the baby were killed.
When we were met by our cousins at the gate, Georgia, age 9, referred to one of these stories. “You know when that go-cart hit my mom? It was a test. It was a test of faith [in God]. This was our test.”
However simply it may have been said, Georgia was right. Over the years, our family has suffered. From strokes, to car accidents; from diabetes, to head injuries, we have not missed out on any of the suffering of this world. However, we have an unending source of comfort and strength. This comfort and strength comes through God. When we think we have suffered more than anyone, we remember the words of Genesis 6:5-6: “The Lord saw that the wickedness (depravity) of man was great on the earth, and that every imagination or intent of the thoughts of his heart were only evil continually. ⁶ The Lord regretted that He had made mankind on the earth, and He was [deeply] grieved in His heart.” When we think that we have no more strength left, we remember the words of the psalmist: 

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
 I will fear no evil, 
 For you are with me;
 Your rod and your staff,
 They comfort me.
…
⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord
    forever.

God has been our comfort and solace in hard times. He has been and will remain greater than any trials and sufferings on this earth.