Posted on: Saturday, November 27, 2004

EXPRESSIONS OF FAITH

By H. Murray Hohns

Most of us have heard the Scripture that states "God so loved the world..." This means that God loves each of us. God loves you no matter where you are or what the circumstances of life that you may face.

I have a friend named Jack who is wheelchair-bound. He broke his neck in a motorcycle accident 12 years ago and will never walk or work again.

I know a woman whose 7-year-old daughter was run over by a DUI driver. The girl who was injured is now in her early 30s and has been unable to function in any sense of that word for almost a quarter of a century. I know a chap with AIDS who is dying, and a man who has lost his leg to diabetes, and others.

I am in regular touch with an inmate at one of our correctional facilities. He became a Christian in prison several years ago; his wife and children need him at home, and he wants to be the man that God wants him to be, but his last petition for parole was turned down.

I know a hundred and more other folks who lived through similar hurt, abuse, neglect, sickness, disappointment, betrayal, violation and every type of wound or horror that one can suffer.

If I had time to tell you the experiences of these several hundred, you would find that a common thread, a crimson thread, runs through all their stories. That thread is that they all cried out to God as they sought the answer to "Why me?" and for relief from what they faced. A few can tell of instant miraculous deliverance from their plight, but the great majority will tell us that God turned their tragedy into triumph as day followed day.

Scripture tells us to give thanks in all circumstances of our lives; that we are to rejoice in all things, for they are the will of God for your life. Does that mean that God wills we experience tragedy and overwhelming losses? No, that is not what is intended here. God so loves each of us that he allows us to choose our paths through life, to do what we want, and to pass on how our choices affect others. God's will for each of us is what we will or want to do and, at times, the effect of time and chance, deserved or not, through which we all travel.

God's intent, his hope, his only purpose is that we would diligently seek him in every circumstance — the good times and the terrible times, too. Crying out to God turns moments of despair and regret into life-changing triumph. Only God can add up all our losses — our hurts — and end up with a plus. Only God can turn your mourning into dancing.

Thank you, God, for all I have experienced. Would you use all that I have lived through for my good?

H. Murray Hohns of Makiki is a retired engineer and an associate pastor at New Hope Christian Fellowship. Expressions of Faith is a column that welcomes written works from pastors, priests, lay workers and other leaders in faith and spirituality. E-mail faith@honoluluadvertiser.com or call 525-8035. Articles submitted to The Advertiser may be published or distributed in print, electronic or other forms.