Life isn’t always a bed of roses. Sometimes you’re in deep trouble and then you think, “What in heaven’s name is this good for?” It is precisely in that phrase “heaven’s name,” which you have spoken with despair in your mind or out loud, that you will find the key to surrender or understanding.
God sees us in our desperation. He knows better than anyone what we are going through or have to go through. After all, Jesus experienced it himself. Think of the opposition He faced when He walked here on earth, knowing where it would eventually lead.
In that opposition and suffering, He didn’t just think of Himself. He still had an eye for the hardships and sorrows of the people He came into contact with. Despite His own feelings and thoughts, He was constantly touching people so that they would come to faith.
When something happens to you, you don’t know why and you can have great difficulty accepting it. But often you come to the conclusion later that you have learned something very important during that period – that God has been busy with you. He has stopped you in order to make you aware of something. That is a great gift and often it changes your life.
But God does more! We humans don’t immediately think of others. We are too busy with ourselves. But God has the overview. He’s very good at multitasking. He immediately sees how a situation can be used. “He makes all things work together for good” not only for you as a believer but also for others He wants to reach.
For example, at the age of 35, I was unexpectedly in the hospital for a major abdominal operation from one day to the next. I was devastated. The “why” question splashed off me.
I had never been in a hospital before and the reason was so terrifying for a mother of a young family. Despite the remedy to help me calm down, I didn’t sleep that night. I took a brand new diary out of my bag that I had received not so long ago. It hadn’t been opened yet. I prayed, “Lord, please encourage me.” I opened it and it opened right on the date of my birthday. But I wasn’t happy with what it said, “When will it be my turn to die?”
Yet there was an encouragement in that same passage: “Jesus is strong, much stronger than the devil, and together with Him I am much stronger than the devil.”
I had to make do with that. Then I flipped back to the current date of that day. It read: “The fields are white for harvesting. It is possible that where you are now – in your home, your office, your work, or somewhere else – is the mission field where the harvest is to be brought in. Ask Him what His will is.”
I couldn’t do anything with that either I thought. Because who was I really, that someone could have support from me and I would show someone the way to Jesus while I needed support myself.
But God takes advantage of every situation! He makes all things work together for good. Not only for me, but also for others. I myself, with the best will in the world, could not think of why it was right for me to be affected by this event. But it soon became clear to me that God had a purpose for others.
When I returned to my double room after the operation, the other bed was occupied by a lady well into her 80s. The next day my pastor at the time, Johan Scholtens, came. He talked to me. The results of the operation were not yet available, and he wanted to pray with me for strength. Then he turned to the women and asked if he could pray for her too. And there came the answer to my “why” question. She burst into tears and said that of course she had heard what kind of conversation we had had and that she had turned her back on God in the far, far past. She thought, “God probably doesn’t want to know anything about me anymore, now that I’ve ignored Him for so long. And now I’m so sick, and I want support from Him.”
Pastor Scholtens, as pastors can, said the right words and then he prayed for me and for her. Two days later, she went home to die.
Not me. The results were now in and they were, thank God, good. But in those days, you stayed in the hospital much longer than you do now.
Another such situation ensued. Not because I started evangelizing there, but because I folded my hands before eating. Such a simple habit of mine has made a world of difference to someone else. God knew what He was doing in my misery. He supported me, through Pastor Scholtens, and brought people to faith through my circumstances.
Was I then wildly enthusiastic about what had happened? Of course not. It took me six months to get back to my physical sense, and I also suffered a blow psychologically. But I had learned something.
Do you know that famous phrase, “God did not promise us a calm journey, but he did promise us a safe arrival”? Jesus experienced it all himself. And before He reached His destination, He had to go through something inhumanly heavy that no one else has been or will be asked to endure. It was the purpose of His life.
Wies Dijkstra has served faithfully within European Baptist Women United for many years, most recently as part of the election committee for new officers in 2023.
