by Charles R. Swindoll
James 5:10--11
When our older daughter Charissa underwent two eye
surgeries, an ordeal I mentioned in my book Three Steps Forward, Two Steps
Back, I thought the test was over. It wasn't. Late in the summer of 1979, she
suffered a severe fall, resulting in a fracture of two vertebrae in her back.
During the early part of that episode, her mother and I were forced to wait on
the physical outcome.
The most difficult discipline in the Christian life, in my
opinion, is waiting. But God used that to force us to lean on Him . . . to
trust Him . . . to believe in Him . . . to release our will and accept His.
Words fail to describe the pain of that transfer of wills. Finally, when we
made the transfer, empty-handed and totally dependent, Cynthia and I leaned
hard on our God. It was a time of great stress.
Today, Charissa's broken back has healed. Our daughter is
neither paralyzed nor handicapped in any way. She is whole, healthy, energetic,
and a very grateful woman. And---I might add---all the Swindolls have learned
again the value of being cast upon our God.
Admittedly, in the pain of it all, I wrestled with Him. But,
looking back, I can clearly see that the process required being emptied of our
own strength. God designed the process to equip my family---and especially
their dad---to be better servants.
Things may not be logical and fair, but when God is
directing the events of our lives, they are right.
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