trusting god

“Do not eat from that tree or you will die.” When you think about it, the one, simple command God gave the first two humans sounds a bit strange. I…

Hoping is risky business…just ask anyone who’s ever done it. That’s because, in life, we speak of hope getting “dashed,” “crushed,” and even “lost.” In those painful moments, we must decide if we’ll ever hope again, and if so, in what or who.

That was the exact decision one particular AIDS patient faced years ago….

It was a normal game of kickball, by a normal group of kids, on a normal 4th of July. Even when the ball struck 9-year-old Jacob Holdaway in the head during the course of play, most labeled it a fairly normal occurrence for that particular game.

But what happened next was anything but normal.

England’s Hudson Taylor, the missionary God used to transform China, was consumed with leading the lost into God’s Kingdom. In spite of the unfathomable challenges he would face – a lack of money, support, translators, and supplies – he never once asked anyone for money. Instead, he simply prayed.

Why not? That strategy paid off time and time again….

Those of us who live in the shadow of the great Billy Graham assume the world-renowned evangelist never had any doubts about the Christian faith. We tend to believe he has all the answers to all the questions…and that it’s always been that way.

But that’s not the case, and a conversation he had in 1949 proved it.

Most of us have the same reaction to painful situations in life: we ask some version of the question, “Why?” But can you imagine having something terrible happen to you…and being incredibly thankful for it as a result?

Kathleen Murphy can.