“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,” -Ephesians 3:20
Almost two weeks ago I lost my grandmother. She was ninety-one years old, and for the last thirteen months, she lived with my parents as Alzheimer’s slowly robbed her of all rational thought. Losing her so close to Thanksgiving made me think about the real greatness of God and how He displays His love, mercy, and power.
I was very young when I took my first train ride. I was so excited to be on that train with my grandparents, but that excitement quickly faded as I began to feel ill. By the time we arrived at our destination, I had a fever. I rested on my grandmother’s sofa looking at a wooden sign on top of her television. It was three-dimensional, and I just could not make it come into focus.
Grammy checked on me constantly, always making sure I had everything I needed. I could sense her constant presence. As the hours slowly ticked by, I kept looking at that sign. Suddenly, the word popped out at me, and I didn’t know how I had missed it.
Jesus.
The simplicity of the message got lost in the complexity of the three-dimensional letters.
My grandmother was a complicated person. She was sensitive and often insecure. She also possessed qualities that made her a remarkable woman. I will never see a cleaner house than hers, she had an unparalleled work ethic, she loved her family dearly, and there was no question that she loved the Lord.
Once it became clear that she could no longer live alone, my parents brought her to live with them in Virginia. Day after day Grammy announced she was going home. She pleaded, threatened, tried to boss them, and even offered my father money to take her back home to Kentucky.
Seven months after bringing her to live with them, my grandmother fell and broke her hip. She had already broken her other hip five years prior, and had made a full recovery. I thought this time she would not come home. She was a fighter though, and after spending six weeks in a rehabilitation facility, she returned to my parents’ house.
Though I watched my grandmother rapidly decline, I also saw God move in ways we could not have imagined. I am still amazed at the way He provided Beth.
No longer able to walk, my grandmother would require a great deal of physical care. Just days before her release, my father was walking in the neighborhood as he has done many times before when a woman stopped her car next to him and handed him a piece of paper with her name and phone number on it. She was a certified caregiver and was looking for work. Astonished at this “coincidence,” my father returned home to tell my mother about her.
We were so concerned that we would not be able to find the right person. We needed someone soft-spoken, kind, and able to look past the rough exterior dementia can cause.
Beth started the day my grandmother came home, and she was with Grammy when she took her last breath. Beth loved her, laughed when my grandmother told her she hated her hair, and was fiercely protective of her. The day Grammy died, Beth held her and wept as the life left her fragile body.
God did not meet our expectations and hopes with Beth. He exceeded them.
Like that little wooden sign on the top of my grandmother’s television, the answer to our problems is so very simple, but we do our best to complicate it with everything that worries us.
What if…
I can’t…
I’m too afraid…
I’m not smart enough…
I’m not ________ enough…
He is enough. Always.
When we place our trust in the Lord, we can rest in the knowledge that He is working for our good. He moves to put answers in place often before those needs are fully realized. He cares about every facet of our lives.
Amazingly, we saw God answer both the prayers of my grandmother and my parents as they journeyed through this wilderness. He can and does do that for you and me as well.
How has God met your needs throughout your life? How can you show Him how thankful you are to have Him as your guide? Remember that your creator will never forsake you. The journey may not be easy, but you will not travel alone. We serve a God who is beyond merely capable.
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