July 2, 2024

Ever had a situation that seemed so bad that you thought nothing good could ever come from it? Ever had a tragedy that wiped out everything you treasured? Ever felt like God surely must have abandoned you?

It’s a blessing when, in retrospect, you look back and see how God was there after all, accomplishing things of which you had no idea. The title above is the title of one of the stories in “Family Stories for God’s Glory.” We, the grandparents, were in charge of our grandchildren when 12-year-old Grant, dove head first into the shallow end of the pool. Frightened, alarmed, and horrified were not big enough words to describe our emotions. But God was there. We discovered later what He was doing.

On a drizzly, cold, late afternoon I fell face down on a concrete walkway because I didn’t step high enough up to the curb. Thankfully, I didn’t break my glasses but, I couldn’t see out of my left eye. I went to the eye doctor the next day, and he immediately sent me to a retina specialist who confirmed that the retina was not torn. “But you have blood behind your right eye,” he informed me.

“Wow, I must have really hit hard.”

“No,” he replied, “this doesn’t have anything to do with your fall. You have wet macular degeneration in your right eye. It’s in the beginning stages, but it should be treated as soon as possible.”

Before I could absorb the fact that I had macular degeneration, I was hit with the urgency of treatment. I knew enough about macular degeneration to know what treatment meant. A needle in your eye! I was assured that some people don’t feel a thing. I was not among the “some people!”

The point here is that a bad thing turned into good. God used the fall to alert me to the macular degeneration early so that treatment could be started early. Praise the Lord!

Look for God’s hand in unexpected places.

Thankfully,

Charlotte