As I begin to write this blog I can’t tell you how many times already I’ve squished a gnat with my thumb as they are drawn to the screen of my computer. Every time I pull my thumb away the tiny bugs drop instantly and a remnant of bug juice is left behind. Thankfully, the darkness of the room hides what must be a pile now of bugs resting on the place where I will soon lay my head to sleep. Oh, the joys of India!
One night as I was traveling to ministry on a particularly rainy day, I was struggling to stay awake. Of course, the ride was nothing but bumpy as the roads in India are filled with craters and mounds of dirt of all sizes, but I managed to nod off anyway to the monotony of the up and down movements of the tiny rickshaw van. My mind would go blank and my eyes would shut for a moment or two until a bump in the road would jolt my head forward and to the side, or a screeching horn would alarm a random cow or goat in the middle of the road to move out of the way, that brought me back to consciousness for a brief second. This went on for some time as I struggled to stay asleep while keeping my head up simultaneously.
After a number of times of going in and out of consciousness the car hit a huge bump in the road knocking my head hard on the metal frame of the vehicle. I immediately brought my hands to the right side of my head hoping to ease the sudden pain and ringing in my right ear. At this point there was no way I was nodding off to sleep again and instead I chose to lean my elbows on my knees and look out the window at the cloudy skies to pass the time as I comforted the growing bump on my head.
After a minute or so, still thinking about the increasing pain, I began praying to God that he would have favor on me and take away the horrible discomfort I was feeling. But as I petitioned for a healing miracle my prayers turned into praises as I thanked God for forming my body with a hard-as-a-rock skull that protected my brain from what could have been serious damage. I even thanked him for the headache I had instead of a fractured skull and a trip to the hospital, or worse.
In that moment I reveled in knowing how great the Awesome Creator is and just how clever he is to design the human body for protection and healing. God knows perfectly well the bumpy roads that we are bound to travel on in this life and the catastrophes that will come from them, both big and small. Thankfully, he has made our bodies with careful intentionality to shield the brunt of the hit and a divine plan for healing the rest.
Though I had a lasting headache for the rest of the night and a nasty bruise in the days after, I will rejoice in the fact that I am alive and well and made to endure the bumps and catastrophes of life by the Almighty God and Perfect Healer.
God is good. All the time.
