Faith vs. Giants

The fallen leaves crunched under our feet as we walked. The sound of the leaves and the crisp coolness in the air reminded me of walking to school with my childhood best friend.  Now, all grown up, the peaceful, easy silence between us was one of at least a hundred reasons that my still best friend and I enjoyed our walks together. Her voice broke the silence, and there was a strength and a calm in her voice that I couldn’t fathom she was actually feeling. My heart certainly wasn’t feeling it.  The giant looming ahead was too big, too scary. Why wasn’t she shouting and raging against what was going on? Why this peace and this calm certainty?

She said, “You know, I will probably never understand in this life, why this is happening or why God ordained this for just this time and when I get to heaven, and I’m face to face with Jesus, I won’t care.”

There it was.  The giant.  Big.  Ugly.  Scary.  Her giant was cancer.  She fought it hard.  On the surface, it appears that the cancer giant won because Lisa died.  The reality, however, is that God won, as is always the case.  Lisa’s faith in her heavenly father and His always perfect will grew exponentially during her fight.  God brought people into her path that she got to share His love and faithfulness with that she wouldn’t have had the opportunity to otherwise had she not been staring down this giant. She taught her best friend what real trust and real faith in your savior looks like.  It is easy to be faithful when your life looks like a fairy tale with a happily ever after ending.  The reality of your heart is revealed however, when you are faced with God’s will and it isn’t something you remotely want to occur in your life.

God’s ways are always perfect.  While we may not understand them, we can always trust in His will even when it appears the giant before us is winning. Don’t fall into the giant’s trap of fear and doubt.  Trust God.  Trust His will even when you can’t understand it.  God will give you the same calm certainty and peace he gave my best friend.  I’ve read the last chapter of the Book and it is true, God always wins.