| God Don't Make No Coincidences © Betty Sue Eaton |
| "I have dominion over all things in Heaven and Earth!" God stated in His word as written in the Bible; the earth is His and EVERYTHING in it! FOREVER! That means all things good, all things beautiful, all things we consider as bad and sorrowful, even the loss of our loved ones. Especially in the loss of any of our loved ones! Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you didn't want to be and just couldn’t find a way out? Relax. God placed you there for a purpose. Once I was returning home after visiting my son in the hospital shortly before his death to renal cancer. One the plane I was so sad I couldn’t imagine how I could just fly away and leave him possibly never to see him alive again. My heart was breaking again for the umpteenth time. A young flight attendant came down the aisle and asked if the seat next to mine was taken to which I answered "No". She sat down and introduced herself saying that I looked so sad she wanted to speak with me and comfort me. Like water pouring over the dam, I opened my heart to her and we cried together. She had just lost her beloved grandmother who had for the most part raised her from a very early age. She, as I just had, opened her heart to me and we cried for her as well. Together. We became very good friends over the ensuing years and after these ten years, we still keep in touch. She once flew from Houston to Las Vegas to have lunch with me because I had told her I was having a tough time dealing with my son’s death. So I had to ask myself, "Was it a coincidence that put me on that plane on that day years ago?" The answer is "No!" God placed me on that plane on that particular day to share the grief of a young woman and to share my grief with her. We touched hearts like two ships that pass in the night and then move on forever changed for the better by the experience. There are so many other instances where that has happened to me that I cannot enumerate all of them, but God can. It was His work, His plan. He has a plan for all our lives and interweaves those "coincidences" into them at His will because that was what He had planned for us. Each "coincidence" is a lesson He is teaching us. It is for us to learn what He is teaching us and apply it to the rest of our lives. When we lose a loved one, that, too, is God's plan for our lives as well as the life of our absent loved one. We think that whatever circumstance we are in at the moment, we 'just happened' to be there, but God don’t make no coincidences! His plan is working out just as He intended. Each of us is placed on this earth with a purpose and a complete plan already in place; He knew what that plan was even before our conception and birth! Incredible as that may seem, that is the way His dominion is working for each and everyone of us. You may be experiencing a deep grief because you lost a loved one. If God made that grief a part of your life's plan, doesn't it make perfect sense that to find relief and comfort we need to go to the only One who can take that grief away and replace it with a different kind of love for that loved one? They are blessed in that they have found the most beautiful peace with our Creator, one that we cannot fathom or know until we, too, go to meet Him in heaven. What a glorious time it is for our loved ones who have gone on before and wait our arrival at 'Home' finally. God promised that will occur, and God never makes a promise that He cannot or will not keep! It is no coincidence that we have great joy in finding the ones we love in this life; neither is it a coincidence that they were taken home before we were allowed to go there too. His word promises that "all things work to the glory of God for those who believe in Him". It is my fervent prayer that if you are feeling the sorrow for a lost loved one that you will find comfort and peace by going to the One who has dominion over all things in Heaven and earth. My 2¢ Worth by Ferna Lary Mills Not by coincidence has Betty's column echoed thoughts of my own this week. It seems that I've been hammered every day with the thought that only the most fortunate of us ever really realize WHY we are where we are, or WHY we are going through the circumstances currently in our life. WHO will be affected by our actions and words and how will their life be changed in ways that we may never ever realize? We are all trying to bloom where we are planted, but who is blooming next to us, watching us grow or wilt, taking strength from our strength, and thirsting when we thirst? Rainbow Faith is a testimony to this. When my own grief seemed to overwhelm me, I knew I had to look at my grief from God's point of view instead of my own in order to survive. Thus, I penned the poem, "Letter From Heaven" as a memorial to my mother. That one poem, written at the greatest depth of my grief, is what started this Christian Grief Ministry. Did I know that this ministry would be a result of that poem? Absolutely not! I was simply working my way through my own grief. In the past 6 years, that one poem alone has been viewed more than 200,000 times online, and sent as a gift to hundreds of others who are now grieving. Since then, there are now literally hundreds of poems and stories online at Rainbow Faith, each one written to encourage the bereaved. This is no coincidence. This is God's plan in action. A plan that He allows me to humbly realize every day. So, what is your circumstance? How are you handling it? Whether you use your trials and your grief to help others "on purpose" or not, the things you say and do will touch someone one way or another in ways you may never realize. Your faith will be a beacon to others, your anger, a stumbling block, your courage, a life raft. My prayer is that you will hang on tightly to your faith and draw as close to Him as possible as you allow Him to comfort you in your grief in ways that only He can. May you become so close to Him that the tears that fall down your face be His own. May you one day be able to realize the strength you passed on to others simply by your faith in God and your courage. May God bless you and bring you Peace. ~ Ferna |
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| A Christian Grief Ministry |
Life After Loss |
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