Hernia or Heritage
A few months ago I got connected with a few guys that coached for me at our football camp. I shared previously that after camp a couple of them got connected with us through one of our groups and have been meeting God in meaningful ways. But one of the coaches met God in the midst of some particularly outrageous circumstances.
He was working as the youth pastor at their church where his dad was the pastor and the two of them also had a wood finishing business together while his fiancé managed a restaurant. They were enjoying planning their wedding and preparing for their new lives together with a wedding date planned for next Summer. One day this Fall the coach had a scare on a rainy day when he was on the freeway and two cars collided in front of him. He just barely avoided being crushed but ended up hitting another vehicle while avoiding the accident and his car was totaled. So, he was in the market for a new car but he was alive and wedding planning was moving along.
They are both former college athletes and active people. However recently during activity she had begun to have consistent discomfort in her abdomen and went to see the doctor. The first doctor she saw did a scan and said she had a hernia but referred her to another doctor for confirmation and that doctor had the same diagnosis, a hernia. So, they scheduled a surgery for the hernia and about a week out from surgery he took her to a preparatory appointment. While at the appointment the nurse said something didn’t same right and ordered an ultrasound. After the ultrasound they were sitting in the hospital room and the tech came in with a surprised look on her face. They were nervous and asked her what was wrong and she said, you don’t have hernia. They looked at each other and then back at the tech who then said, You’re actually pregnant, and not just that, seven months pregnant! They were stunned but embraced each other and were happy. But then their attention turned to how they were going to explain this to everyone and the implications.
They had been sleeping together before marriage but knew that it was sinful and wanted to honor God in their relationship so they had stopped sleeping together 7 months ago. As it turns out through she had already gotten pregnant. They didn’t know how their families would receive this news especially since he was a youth pastor and his dad was the pastor! But they didn’t hide from this and sat down separately with both their parents and while there was mourning for the sin, their families were gracious, supportive, and also excited for the baby! But when the coach told his dad, the pastor, he became a little concerned when he just sank into a chair with a stunned look on his face for a few moments. He went over to him to ask if he was alright and he looked at him and got up and gave him a hug and shared that he was happy about the baby. But he then looked at the coach and said this may be bad timing but I was going to share something else with you today. You know how hard Covid hit our company and how hard it’s been recently and just this week I’ve decided I’m shutting down the business and we’ll need to find new jobs. He also told the church about the pregnancy and although they received it well and supported him he would step down as youth pastor, at least for a while.
So, the coach was going to be a father in two months, was out of a job, and without a car! Suffice it to say he came to us with a heavy heart and didn’t know what to do. We all sat wide eyed after hearing the story and knew he didn’t need advice but needed God, it was time to worship and pray. As always God was so faithful to meet him and offered him his loving, peaceful presence during the storm. God affirmed his honesty and handling of the situation and rebuked any shame or guilt. He wept as God’s presence filled Him. Once his heart was at peace before God, the Lord graciously gave him guidance as to the next steps of when to get married to his fiancé (they’d be moving up their wedding date!), how to handle his position at the church, and to top it off one of the guys in the group offered him a car he didn’t need anymore!
God is with us always, and He is always enough. We are not promised comfort and ease in life, but we are promised that God will be with us. He offers us peace to quiet our mind and still our body, hope to secure our eternal soul, and love to satisfy us in the present. His promises never fail so we can open our hands to release these earthly troubles and then be filled with the presence of the living God in whom we find refuge and strength.
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Psalm 46: 1-3, 10-11
He was working as the youth pastor at their church where his dad was the pastor and the two of them also had a wood finishing business together while his fiancé managed a restaurant. They were enjoying planning their wedding and preparing for their new lives together with a wedding date planned for next Summer. One day this Fall the coach had a scare on a rainy day when he was on the freeway and two cars collided in front of him. He just barely avoided being crushed but ended up hitting another vehicle while avoiding the accident and his car was totaled. So, he was in the market for a new car but he was alive and wedding planning was moving along.
They are both former college athletes and active people. However recently during activity she had begun to have consistent discomfort in her abdomen and went to see the doctor. The first doctor she saw did a scan and said she had a hernia but referred her to another doctor for confirmation and that doctor had the same diagnosis, a hernia. So, they scheduled a surgery for the hernia and about a week out from surgery he took her to a preparatory appointment. While at the appointment the nurse said something didn’t same right and ordered an ultrasound. After the ultrasound they were sitting in the hospital room and the tech came in with a surprised look on her face. They were nervous and asked her what was wrong and she said, you don’t have hernia. They looked at each other and then back at the tech who then said, You’re actually pregnant, and not just that, seven months pregnant! They were stunned but embraced each other and were happy. But then their attention turned to how they were going to explain this to everyone and the implications.
They had been sleeping together before marriage but knew that it was sinful and wanted to honor God in their relationship so they had stopped sleeping together 7 months ago. As it turns out through she had already gotten pregnant. They didn’t know how their families would receive this news especially since he was a youth pastor and his dad was the pastor! But they didn’t hide from this and sat down separately with both their parents and while there was mourning for the sin, their families were gracious, supportive, and also excited for the baby! But when the coach told his dad, the pastor, he became a little concerned when he just sank into a chair with a stunned look on his face for a few moments. He went over to him to ask if he was alright and he looked at him and got up and gave him a hug and shared that he was happy about the baby. But he then looked at the coach and said this may be bad timing but I was going to share something else with you today. You know how hard Covid hit our company and how hard it’s been recently and just this week I’ve decided I’m shutting down the business and we’ll need to find new jobs. He also told the church about the pregnancy and although they received it well and supported him he would step down as youth pastor, at least for a while.
So, the coach was going to be a father in two months, was out of a job, and without a car! Suffice it to say he came to us with a heavy heart and didn’t know what to do. We all sat wide eyed after hearing the story and knew he didn’t need advice but needed God, it was time to worship and pray. As always God was so faithful to meet him and offered him his loving, peaceful presence during the storm. God affirmed his honesty and handling of the situation and rebuked any shame or guilt. He wept as God’s presence filled Him. Once his heart was at peace before God, the Lord graciously gave him guidance as to the next steps of when to get married to his fiancé (they’d be moving up their wedding date!), how to handle his position at the church, and to top it off one of the guys in the group offered him a car he didn’t need anymore!
God is with us always, and He is always enough. We are not promised comfort and ease in life, but we are promised that God will be with us. He offers us peace to quiet our mind and still our body, hope to secure our eternal soul, and love to satisfy us in the present. His promises never fail so we can open our hands to release these earthly troubles and then be filled with the presence of the living God in whom we find refuge and strength.
God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.
He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Psalm 46: 1-3, 10-11
Recent
Archive
2023
Categories
no categories
No Comments