When I was a little girl, any time I would get hurt and go to my dad crying about my ailment he would always do the same thing. He would take my pinched finger or other such hurt and say:
“You know what the good thing about this is, don’t you? It’s a long way from your heart.”
Then he’d laugh while trying to get me to laugh and think about anything else but my hurt.
Being a kid, I would always take that sore finger, hold it to my chest and say, “No! See? It’s right here by my heart!” But the conversation and the laughter usually distracted me enough, making whatever had been hurting suddenly not so bad.
I eventually understood his lesson behind the distraction... that no physical ailment could change my heart. That every hurt would pass and I would still be the same on the inside regardless of the outside.
I’ve had many opportunities to put that saying to the test in my adult life, and I’ve realized something about Dad’s theory...
I realized that some hurts aren’t a long way from my heart. Some hurts reside there. But they don’t change who I am inside.
They don’t change my faith.
I realized that every lesson I learned before remains the same after.
I realized that nothing is different. God is the same. Love is the same.
No matter how much my heart hurts.
Years ago, I felt like God drew a line in the sand and asked me to either choose the fear and worry, or choose to trust Him. I chose trust... and it was an all or nothing decision.
Being sick didn’t change that. Becoming homebound didn’t change that. My dad dying doesn’t change that. Because I know better... because I made that definitive choice to trust Him with my life... I can’t pretend to be ignorant simply because my life is suddenly altered.
I know better. I know Him. And I trust Him.
I trust that my dad was instantly overwhelmed with love and peace and joy the moment his heart stopped beating. I trust that God never changed for a moment... that His grace has surrounded all of us every moment of every day, just as it did before Dad died and just as it will tomorrow.
I trust that God sees all, knows all, understands all. And because I trust Him, I can walk through this life with the goal of fulfilling what I know I will never understand.
This life is so random to us, but it isn’t random to Him.
And that is enough for me.
Just know that you can make the choice for it to be enough for you, too.