A few days before I returned to college for my Sophomore year the Pontiac station wagon I was driving was having an “over heating” problem. Late one afternoon I got home and decided to top off the radiator with water to help it, and when I slightly twisted the radiator cap it exploded on me. I knew that the cap could be turned half-way to release the steam. The problem was that the last person to put the cap back on (me) didn’t put it back all the way. The ambulance came, I was in the hospital with third degree burns for a few days in my hometown. I started a long stretch of physical therapy that started at home but went well into the Fall Semester.
We called the University to notify them of what had happened and they were happy to work with me. They offered my family a small apartment for a couple of weeks, so my dad and I left for Greenville, SC for me to begin my Sophomore year. I would go to class, do my homework, my dad would take me to physical therapy and doctor’s appointments. We ate great meals, a couple of nights at the Peddler Steak House. One afternoon we drove up into the mountains of Western NC. Physical therapy went well, the burns were healing properly, and I was ready to move into the dorm.
The day my dad left he prayed with me and for me. In his prayer he specifically said “God, I thank you for the time I have been able to spend with my son.” I will never forget it. Because we had a great time together. I could have prayed the same prayer of thanksgiving, thanking God for the time I spent with my dad.
I would have never chosen to be burned. I also don’t think that God somehow ordered for me to go through that pain. God is not the author of pain and harm. But God did use it for good in both mine and my dad’s life.
God did not send Covid 19 upon the world. This is not a punishment and it did not originate in the mind of God. This virus is taking life and it is darkness, and in God there is no darkness at all. But, if we keep our eyes open we can see how God can take this horrible and unwanted pandemic and use it for good. Please understand, the good that we can find will not make it worth it, and I would hope that no one would contend that the found good in any way outweighs the bad of it. But, we can find glimpses of God’s presence and grace in the midst of difficulty and pain.
God is with us. There is hope. Do not fear. God will not leave us nor forsake us.