Book Club: Hope Unfolding ~ Chapter 3: A Fight for Joy

Welcome to Book Club!

We are currently reading through Hope Unfolding: Grace-Filled Truth for the Momma's Heart by Becky Thompson. Pick up your copy today (I recommend you check out Booko to compare prices at various retailers)

God is good even when life isn't - Becky Thompson.

If you've been reading along with me you'll know that Becky writes from a Christian perspective. In my previous chapter recaps I have focused on underlying principles that Becky is sharing rather than her faith because I believe that anyone can apply the principles regardless of whether or not they share Becky's faith. In this chapter the key idea that Becky is sharing is God is good. No matter what life throws at us God is good. 

The goodness of God is unchanged by the brokenness of this world. He still loved me. He saw me in all of it, and He was right there with me. And He is with you too. - Becky Thompson.

Becky tells her story of miscarriage and how she held onto God's goodness like a lifeline. I was reminded of my own medical nightmare. In 2008 I was rushed to hospital with severe abdominal pain. Laying in the emergency room several doctors asked me about my symptoms, medical history, and general health. The medical staff gave no indication that they had any ideas of what was happening to me. They just kept offering more morphine. Five or six hours passed before I finally had a scan done and the doctors told me that they now knew what they were dealing with and would operate in the morning. But they wouldn't say what the issue was. My husband and family were told to go home, we all needed some rest.

Early the next morning with my mum by my side, the surgeon arrived, surrounded by interns, and he went through his list of questions again (symptoms, medical history etc.). Finally, the surgeon explained that there was a mass on my bowels, he strongly suspected I had cancer, and he intended to remove a third of my bowel. I was terrified. More medical staff arrived to discuss the surgery, anaesthesia, and all the possible risks related to both. I remember asking the anaesthetist whether I was going to die on the table (they really had described the worst possible risks associated with surgery without any context of how rare those risks were).

We were living a nightmare that day but God is good. God doesn't promise that we won't go through hard times but he does promise to always be with us. In the midst of my nightmare, God was present, he was present in the people he surrounded us with. After I was prepped and wheeled off for surgery I met my surgical nurse, a family friend. My family received updates on my status by someone they knew and trusted, and this gave them a small comfort. God is good. After surgery, the nurse in charge of the ward I was in, was also someone we knew, again this was comforting. God is good. I choose to believe that even during hard times God is good and He is present with me: and that gives me the comfort, strength and hope that I need to go on.

(It turned out that I didn't have cancer. I had a twisted bowel. But even if it had have been cancer God is good.)

Becky urges us to ask God to show us where he was when we were going through a challenging time. I chose to believe that God was right there with me, surrounding me with people to care for me. What did you think of this chapter? Can you see God's presence in your difficult moments?