“I can do all things through [Jesus Christ] who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13)
AWFUL TRAGEDY
It’s been over a decade since tragedy struck off the coast of Hawaii.
It was on Kauai’s North Shore that competitive surfer Bethany Hamilton was attacked by what was believed to have been a 10-15 foot tiger shark.
The shark bit off the 13-year-old girl’s arm in a single bite and then disappeared back into the deep.
She would be rushed to the hospital where it ended up that her father just happened to be going in for knee surgery at the exact same time.
Tom Hamilton’s surgery was put on hold so that his doctor could try to save his daughter’s life.
He was able to do just that.
POSITIVE SPIRIT
Bethany was interviewed a number of times after the surgery.
I was able to see one of those interviews on TV.
What struck me most was the young (at the time) girl’s positive spirit. (She’s around 24 now.) It wasn’t coaxed or made up. It was truly genuine.
There she was with a left stump instead of an arm, and Bethany wasn’t down or moping or projecting a “Woe is me” mentality. But she was hopeful and resilient and courageous, looking to the future and to the potential of surfing again.
“What an example,” I found myself thinking. “Could it be that she’s a Christian?”
It turns out that Bethany was and she said she was looking forward to how God might use her to minister to others out of her awful tragedy.
TRUST GOD
Some believers face much lesser trials than this 13-year-old girl and they succumb. They check out. They play the “martyr.”
That’s not to say that one shouldn’t grieve or that somehow a Christian won’t have feelings of sadness and questions like, “Why me?,” when something bad happens.
But at the end of the day, the difference between a believer and an unbeliever is we have a God who is with us who will help us to overcome whatever it is we face if we just turn to Him and trust Him with our circumstances.
Lord, grant it that more attitudes like Bethany Hamilton’s would prevail in the church. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
(Tiger Shark picture file above is under the Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license: click here. CC BY-SA 3.0)
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