September 22, 2008

Trials and the Purpose of God

"Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand." (Proverbs 19:21).

Last week I mentioned how God changed my plans as the aftermath of Hurricane Ike blew violently through our area. However, it turns out that He wasn't done with my family yet. On Thursday night our oldest daughter was taken to the emergency room and diagnosed with type-1 diabetes.

InsulinShe will now be dependent on insulin for the rest of her life. The next several months will be trying ones for our family as we adapt to her medical needs. We will have to change her diet, test her blood four times a day, and give her regular insulin shots. Managing all of this well will take several months of learning and adjustment for our entire family.

My wife and I come away from this discovery thankful to God that He has provided us with ways to treat and live well with diabetes. We also realize how utterly dependent we are on Him—our daughter’s pancreas stopped functioning properly, and apart from attentive care she cannot live. But most importantly, we pray that we will glorify Christ through this time of trial. We pray that we will rely on Christ through this tremendous change. And we pray that each member of our family will draw closer to our infinitely wise and faithful God.

We welcome your prayers in the coming weeks and months and greatly appreciate all those who are committed to our family and the ministry of ACFAR. If you’d like to receive regular prayer updates about us via e-mail, let me know.

And please—continue to pray for this week’s "Awakening Africa" event in southern California (September 27)! I hope to see many of you there.