Happy New Near
I found this post in my social media memories from the 1st of January, 2019. It was about the huge trials that followed a motor cycle accident. Little did I know when I wrote this, the worst was yet to come. Now, after some to normality has set in, I have found the mundane, drip drip drip of life more challenging at times. The post below spoke to me. I am particularly challenged by my acknowledgement of the tradeoff – suffering for life. (There was no editing done to this post).
2018 was a long year that went very fast. It was a more victorious year in that I can say I walked with the Lord all year. Of course, walking in my world is figurative. In July of 2017, God changed my heart so that I knew his love more than ever. It took a tragic accident for me to see him so magnified but it did so much good in my life.
I will record 2018 as a year of recovery and setbacks; of exciting firsts and scary moments. In June I got up the stairs in the house for the first time and stayed in the same bedroom and bed as my wife.
In July I finished the term at college but ushered in a summer of sickness and infections. I met my new friends, the Grays. I walked over a 1/2 mile but then ended up in critical care with a frightening bout of sepsis.
There was my first drive of a car since June 2017.
I received a letter from Prince William in response to my thank you letter for his part in rescuing my legs.
There was the trial that was disappointingly cancelled in July but took place in October with positive results.
There was the marriage of my son and the announcement of my first grandchild that I should be alive to meet.
There was the heartbreak of my childhood friend departing this world but the reunion of our mutual friend and his family.
Through all this, my lovely wife has ridden through the storms of our trials as we strive for normality.
I’m more healthy and mobile in 2019 than I was a year ago. I have had my frame removed in November but my tibia has since rebroken. I’m processing that.
As I looked through my notes I was reminded that I was wishing the Lord would come back while I was in the A & E (ER). That was 23 December. But I was corrected in my wishing because my desire for his return was not for His glory. It was so I could escape more discomfort and pain. It was so I wouldn’t have to worry about what was next.
When I was thinking more clearly I resolved that, by the grace of God, I would wish for his return so that I could be with him – so that I could see him and worship without fleshy filters. When I want something else, then I know that my eyes have been set too low.
2019 will include at least one more surgery to correct one knee, and possibly cutting and resetting my tibia. It may include another frame. I was not expecting this. My challenge is to remember that it is at times like these that I am drawn closer to the glory of God and dependence on him.
By his grace I will testify what good things the Lord has done for me. My legs are not fixed yet. There has been a heart-wrenching setback. But I am secure in Christ and his free gift of salvation. How, then, could I ever complain? He has given me life. And he is with me in all suffering. So victory is still mine. It’s yours. It’s ours.
“But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:57-58
Rejoicing Bones 