God is Present in the Details

A common colloquialism is “the devil is in the details”. Just another way Satan is trying to usurp the throne. GOD is PRESENT in the details! Studying the Bible I am regularly amazed at the details God interweaves into scripture, events and our personal lives. When we are introspective and DO NOT accept things at face value, we will see GOD. He leaves his fingerprints during events for us to see and to know he is constantly working in our lives to bring us home to HIM and bring others with us.

In 1986, the tenure of my life completely changed and I was knocked to my knees in pain and grief. I will write about it more in future blogs but today I want to share part of my journey.

My parents had come to take my two children at the time Christmas shopping while my husband and I did our yearly dental check-ups. December 22 started out as the most normal day in my life and turned into the day my world shattered. A horrific car wreck occurred and it resulted in the loss of my parents. My three-and-a-half-year-old ended up in traction for four weeks and a body cast for months. My eighteen-month-old daughter was bruised and battered but safe.

I was five months pregnant with my third child. Life got hard really fast at age 25. I started pursuing GOD in ways I never imagined only to realize HE had pursued me from the womb. The proverbial rubber had met the road.

GOD allowed me to see HIS hands in the details even from the beginning moments. HE provided his peace in the details of that day and continues to this day. I wanted to share one of those details today. It may sound simple but it affected my faith walk in such a way. I know it was GOD. I felt it in a way I never had before. My eighteen-month-old daughter was my shy kid. She was the one who ducked in the grocery store when a stranger said hi. The cradle roll and church nursery ladies were well-acquainted with bringing her to me. Forget Mother’s Day Out. It was easier to “tote” her with me than to leave her. Don’t even consider a babysitter. My oldest never met a stranger and willingly ran into all events headlong. Lindsey didn’t and still is my most reserved child (except on the basketball court 🙂

We drove at breakneck speeds to the hospital 45 minutes away to an unimaginable situation. When the troopers and ER staff contact you in these situations, they typically give you few details in order to get you to the hospital safely. They don’t need another tragedy. All I knew on the way to Little Rock were words like assessing, surgeons called in and such… I remember worrying about Lindsey and imagining her fears. I shouldn’t have. GOD was already there in the details.

We walk into any emergency room of a busy metropolitan hospital and are quickly brought back.

My very first memory of this day was seeing my daughter on the hip of a young doctor eating a cookie. My daughter who would not go to a stranger was waving at me and saying “Hi Mommy” with the biggest smile on her face. Huh? Her corduroy overalls had been taken off of her because they were filled with glass slivers. She was wearing a man’s t-shirt with a hospital gown around her. The nurses assured me she was fine and she didn’t even make an effort to come to us. She showed me her cookie and kept munching. An uncommon peace filled me at that point. Something was happening much bigger than my world could grasp. GOD was holding her safe. It looked like a young doctor but it was GOD. It was the first of a hundred DETAILS over the next few months.

Later that evening, our best friends drove down from Searcy and took Lindsey home for several weeks while we crawled through our pain. She never flinched with them and fit into their home without a glitch. She made up names for them. She smiled and slept and thrived.

I have wondered if that young doctor knew GOD was using him. GOD is in the details. The GOD of Abraham, Issac and Jacob was holding a shy eighteen-month-old with the HOLY SPIRIT hovering and JESUS was filling me with peace. GOD is in the details. Maranatha! Jayme