“God’s great loving-kindness” by Reva Lachica Moore
When I encounter problems, I hear people tell me: “It will get worse before it gets better.” And oftentimes, it really does.
A few years ago, I read a story about a woman who had a small, dark brown spot on the tip of her nose. She didn’t know how it got there. She saw it one day and years later, it was still there. Each day as she looked in the mirror, she hated seeing the ugly spot. Each day she prayed, “God, I wish You would remove this ugly spot from my nose.” But the spot did not disappear.
One day she asked God again to remove the ugly spot. This time she was quite serious with her request, for she couldn’t stand seeing it any longer. That morning she went about her daily routine after her prayer. As she was dusting the bookcase, a book from the top shelf suddenly fell, hitting her right on her nose. The heavy blow caused her nose to bleed and become bruised all over.
Horrified from the sight of her nose, the woman cried, “I should have been content with my ugly spot. Look at what I have now!”
As the days went by, her bruised nose started to heal. The swelling had subsided and the discoloration started to clear up a little every day. Each day was a big improvement, so joy filled her heart again and she forgot all about the small, ugly spot on the tip of her nose.
Until one day…as she looked in the mirror, she remembered the ugly spot. But lo and behold, it was no longer there! And not even a hint of the dark spot anywhere. Her nose had completely healed. But where did the ugly spot go? She realized God had answered her prayers.
I think that the ugly spot on the tip of her nose was probably a small hematoma or bruise that never cleared. The reticuloendothelial system in the human body has many functions. One of which is the destruction of worn-out red blood cells that escape from blood vessels into tissues, as in the case of a bruise. After the woman bruised her nose when the book fell on it, the reticuloendothelial cells started clearing the dead blood cells (bruises), and the ugly spot (old hematoma) on her nose was also taken out in the process.
Oftentimes in our lives, before an injury (or emotional wound) heals, we may have to go through a bigger and tougher process before the problem would totally disappear.
One day my friend Dorothy called, quite upset. “Reva, please pray for my younger brother. He’s in a lot of trouble. He’s into drugs and I don’t know what to do with him. He has brought my parents a lot of pain.”
At that moment, I prayed with Dorothy on the phone. We were both sobbing by the time I said, “Amen.”
A few months had passed by and I didn’t hear from Dorothy. I assumed everything was going well with her. But one day, she called shrieking. “It was your prayer that caused all our troubles! My brother is in jail! I should have not asked you to pray for him!” Then the phone went dead.
I couldn’t believe what I heard, and Dorothy didn’t even give me a chance to say anything. Stunned, I breathed a prayer to God, “Lord, You know what You are doing, and I believe You have Your reasons. Show me please what’s going on.”
A few weeks later, I received another surprise phone call from Dorothy. This time her voice sounded upbeat. “Reva, I’m so sorry for getting upset at you last time. But I want to let you know that my brother found Jesus in jail! He wants to know more about Him. Thank you for your prayer.”
Lamentations 3:31-33 says, “For the Lord will not turn away from a man forever. For if He causes sorrow, He will have loving-pity because of His great loving-kindness. He does not want to cause trouble or sorrow for the children of men.”
When problems come to us, let us seek God and believe that He will work out a plan of deliverance for us.
(These wildflowers below popped up from the burning pile in our backyard…telling me of God’s Great Loving-kindness)