In my New Year’s column I shared with you my hope that we can define goals and intentions according to God’s plan and purpose for our lives. On the heels of that column, I read an interesting article last week that talked about expecting God to move in our lives through shifting seasons and what the author called “suddenlies.”
The words and concepts jumped off the page at me and resonated in my heart, as I responded “Yes!” I understand the changing seasons well, and have expressed them in this column many times. But I was intrigued by this article to look further into the word “suddenly” in scripture. I found at first glance a couple hundred references. When I included the synonym “immediately,” the number about doubled.
There were those instances of sudden calamity and difficulties with references even to the coming of the Lord as a “thief in the night” (1 Thessalonians 5:2 and 2 Peter 3:10). These scriptures are harder to grasp if we feel distanced from God. However difficult sudden destructions are to read about in the Bible they are even harder to live.
We all know that trials and difficulties are a reality of this life. It is how we respond to those difficulties and endure through those changing seasons that opens us up to the a sudden grace of God coming into our lives.
There are numerous accounts in the scriptures about immediate and sudden actions of God that changed circumstances for the better. I love the accounts in the Gospels of those who have suffered long and hard and suddenly the touch of Jesus changed everything. In an instant, they were healed.
The woman with a hemorrhage is one of my favorites because it reminds me so much of my daughter Johanna. In Mark 5:25-34:
“A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse— after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak. For she thought, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.” Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction. Immediately Jesus, perceiving in Himself that the power proceeding from Him had gone forth, turned around in the crowd and said, “Who touched My garments?” And His disciples said to Him, “You see the crowd pressing in on You, and You say, ‘Who touched Me?’” And He looked around to see the woman who had done this. But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth. And He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.”
Wow. Imagine how she felt after suffering for twelve years and suddenly, she was healed? We all have areas of long and enduring pain that we long for God to heal. Can you imagine a sudden move of God?
Another great example of God suddenly acting in our circumstances so as to remove our struggles is the story of Paul and Silas, disciples of Jesus who were jailed for preaching the Gospel.
“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose.” Acts 16:25-26.
Though most of us can’t imagine being imprisoned for crime and/or injustice, we can all relate to being held captive by our fears, worries, and possibly addictions.
The common denominator in both these scriptures was that those who suffered chose to trust the Lord and act on that trust in a way which predisposed them to a major move of God.
The woman with the hemorrhage reached out to touch Jesus, despite the crowds and the strong possibility that she would be rebuked. Paul and Silas chose not to wallow in self pity as they sat in the prison cell. They praised the Lord in this imprisonment and the walls came crumbling down. These faithful servants set the stage for a sudden move of God.
In our times of struggle, it is important to remember that God can and will eventually either change our circumstances or our perspective. When we trust the Lord, it’s a win/win situation. God either gives us the grace, wisdom and perspective to endure the struggle or suddenly He acts and the prison walls fall down the hemorrhage pains are healed.
In just a few weeks, I have experienced this grace of God’s sudden moves. I’ve watched in amazement as my daughter, who just completed her Bachelor’s degree in December pick up and move to California to start a job working with Canine Companions for Independence.
Eleven years ago, she begged me and my husband to let her raise a puppy and at first we said no. Our life was tough enough without adding a puppy to the mix. But when I took the decision to prayer I clearly heard the Lord say to me, “Give in for now. It is in her to do this. You don’t understand now, but I promise you, in time you will understand.”
It was such a clear green light to me in prayer that I told my husband I was overriding him and my daughter started on the crazy path to puppy raising five dogs for CCI.
We saw immediate fruits of the decision as our quiet little girl matured and became a great puppy raiser and advocate for people with disabilities. Still, the seasons were up and down.
Her own journey through college was plagued with health crises and indecision. But, a sudden turn of events and circumstances, she is now joyfully making her way across the country, with her first CCI pup at her side, to start her new life.
I’m so glad that I trusted God when He told me to give into my daughter’s desire to raise puppies and work her way through college. She and I both learned this lesson:
“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9
Johanna and I also are experiencing the grace of a sudden move of God. After a year of local events, book sales and planning, the doors are opening for us to travel more to speak and share our story of hope with many more people who need to be encouraged.
This past week, we traveled to Alabama and Tennessee to tape five shows for Eternal Word Television Network, (EWTN), a major Catholic media station whose programs are broadcasted around the world.
As I watched the smiles and laughter on Johanna’s face and the confidence that exuded from her as she shared her stories in front of bright lights and television cameras, I was reminded of these sudden moves of God.
My little girl is becoming a woman of confidence and grace. Even while she faces struggles, her perspective changes. Then God moves. And suddenly it all makes seems worth it.
Eileen Benthal is a writer, speaker and wellness coach with a B.A. in Theology from Franciscan University. She is the author of Breathing Underwater: A Caregiver’s Journey of Hope.
Eileen and her husband Steve live in Jamesport and have four young adult children. Their youngest, Johanna, is a teenager with special needs.
Eileen can be reached at CareforaCaregiver.com.
