I have often heard older folk say “the
Lord works in mysterious ways,” and as I continue to live, I am finding more
and more truth in this statement. I have also learned that his plan is often
times more perfect than any plan we could ever scheme on our own. This epiphany
came to me a few months ago after I was diagnosed as having stage IV colon
cancer. It was also during this time I
continue to invite a friend of mine to church. This was a friend I knew who had
no intentions of ever coming to a Seven Day Adventist church, however I thought
it was worth giving it a try. I guess part of me invited her as a way of
testing God’s strength. She has been a really good friend to me during my
sickness. She was among the many friends that would come and visit and pray for
me while I was in the hospital, so I felt it only natural to invite her to
church.
My
friend was very spiritual on the outside and in many of our conversations she would
mention going to church on Sunday. She, like most of us in the world, had her
share of vices and was actively seeking rescue from these transgressions. But
she was in a place and I don’t think she was happy, and I felt that if she
could be exposed to an active church, it will help facilitate her spiritual
growth. So each week, I continued to invite her to church and each week she
would give me an excuse why she couldn’t go. I expected these excuses, heck; I
had given some of the same ones to my mother and other family members when they
invited me to church years ago.
I have
always saw little things in my spiritual walk, however at they time did not
mean much to me, but as the days progressed, these little meetings became
amplified in my life. For example, I remember about six months ago I decided to
visit a friend at work. She had a light patient load that day so we had plenty
time to just sit down and just talk about our dreams and our aspirations.
Things at that time were going pretty good for me, I had a new job and I was
starting to see my future as something other than just a mirage. It was in this
meeting that I famously said “everyone I know has a cause they are very
passionate about, something that gets them out of bed in the mornings. They have
that one thing that they’re known for, something that has changed their life
and now they have made a commitment to change others. I wish I had such a
cause”. To my surprise, God had heard my wish.
The
next week I was scheduled for doctor’s appointment. It was a follow-up
appointment that my primary physician had made for me after I had demanded that
she do so. To make a long story short, I was got a diagnosis of colon cancer.
What I could not see at that point, was that He was answering my wish, it was
in the midst of all my trials and tribulations that I finally realized that God
had given me cause. He had given me something that I can fight for, something
that I can be strong about and something that I can help other people with; he
had given me the gift of stage IV colon cancer. So after finding out what my
cause was I was prepared to go out and conquer the world, unfortunately God had
other plans for me and one of those plans included being admitted to hospital
for two major surgeries.
After I
had been discharged from the hospital, my friend Allison gave me a call to tell
me how she had been praying for me and that she was glad that I was doing
better. Then she gave me some startling news and said “I am getting baptized at
the end of November.” This revelation took me by a total surprise. I asked her,
“Allison, you are really getting baptized? Where”, I said in a sarcastic
manner. This is when she went on to tell me that while I had been sick in the
hospital, she had been attending First Seven Day Adventist Church and now she
had decided to make a conversion. It was at this point that I realized that “there
is a bigger picture that sometimes does not come into focus until the dust of
life has settled down”.
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