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Verse:Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. —Jeremiah 29:12, 13, NKJV
May 15, 2014, is a day that I will never forget.
At home on sick leave, taking advantage of sleeping in, I was awakened by my mobile phone vibrating. I quickly answered the phone call and discovered my sister on the other end of the call. Her message was heartbreaking: “He has aggressive cancer, and there is nothing the doctors can do.” My brother-in-law Paul had been admitted to the hospital the night before for an exploratory laparotomy (surgical incision through the abdominal wall). He had been complaining of abdominal pain and suffered weight loss for several weeks. On that day, thoughts raced in my head: Paul is forty-six years old. He and my oldest sister are to celebrate their twentieth wedding anniversary in September. They have three children. How are they going to cope? I prayed, “God, Paul doesn’t even believe! How is my sister going to cope on her own?” I quickly pulled on my gym gear and decided to go for a walk to spend some time with God.
One side of the sky was a beautiful blue with white fluffy clouds, while gray clouds darkened the other side of the sky.
Thoughts continued to race: My sister is going to be a widow —she is only forty-five! As I was trying to absorb this terrible news, it started to drizzle a gentle shower. The words of a hymn flashed across my mind: “showers of blessing.” At that moment, I remembered that I have a God who loves my family and will be with us every step of the way. A God who, regardless of what the future holds, is there with us, holding our hand, comforting us, and being our Rock of strength. I am glad to say that Paul gave his heart back to God and enjoyed that sweet fellowship for ten months before losing his battle with cancer. During those ten months, our family experienced showers of blessing through food parcels, kind words, additional days off from work, flowers, prayers, and hugs from friends and church family. We were enveloped in God’s love, and His love sustained us through this painful journey. With sadness in my heart, I have this wonderful hope: my family will see Paul again when Jesus comes. Showers of blessing will flow then!
Jenny Rivera