Today we want you to hear--and learn--from Debbie Demi, a member of our sister church, Covenant Fellowship in Philadelphia. "Afer regeneration, one of the greatest miracles of grace, is the Christian who rejoices in the midst of suffering" my dad has said. This family is truly a miracle of grace. Here is Debbie's answer to our question, "tell us about a circumstance in your life where you now see God was working 'behind the scenes' for your good?"
Recently my family has been going through the toughest trial of our lives. Twenty-two weeks into my pregnancy with our eighth child, an ultrasound revealed that our unborn baby girl had a condition called holoprosencephly. At 6–7 weeks, her brain did not divide and therefore, it was determined that she was missing the front part of her brain. The doctor gave us the grave news that her condition was fatal (lethal as she called it). She expressed her condolences and said that they would not stop labor if it began early and that they would not do a c-section to save her life.
To most onlookers, it appeared that there could not possibly be any good to come from such a diagnosis. In a doctor’s report, he called it “an unfortunate pregnancy.” However, with eyes of faith and an eternal perspective, God by His grace has allowed us to see that, “He works all things together for our good.”
Three weeks ago, Destiny was born alive. The joy we experienced at her birth was unlike any other. Death was looming in our minds and every indicator prior to birth seemed to confirm that Destiny would not survive the birth. Therefore, to us, her birth was miraculous. She was born with the condition that she was diagnosed with. She has a cleft lip, a cleft palate, suffers from seizures and multiple other conditions that we have yet to experience. However, we are so grateful for the opportunity to have Destiny in our family and to care for her – even if her time on earth is short.
Even though the trial is not over, we can by faith believe that God is working for our good and look for ways God is working even in the midst of the most trying times knowing that nothing happens by chance. We don’t know the extent of how God is going to use Destiny for our good and His glory, but here are just a couple ways that we’ve seen him work so far.
1) We believe that He’s teaching our children compassion as they care for a handicapped child; growing their faith by allowing them to see us glorifying God in a trial and seeing God answer our prayers; teaching them to care for others as they see the body of Christ caring for us. By faith, knowing the character of God, we know that He is doing an eternal work in their hearts through this trial.
2) As my husband and I have walked through this together, I’ve grown in love and admiration for my him. I’ve seen strengths in him that I would never have seen otherwise as I’ve experienced his care and marveled at the way he has shepherded our family.
3) We’ve experienced the care from the body of Christ in a way that we never imagined, teaching us how to serve others and bearing testimony of the Gospel to our unsaved family members and neighbors. They will know we are Christians by our love.
4) It’s been an opportunity for us not to waste our suffering, but to use every opportunity to glorify God in what He, by His loving hand, has allowed into our lives. God has allowed us to experience Him in a deeper way, to experience His faithfulness in a difficult situation, to ponder what He has done for us on the cross, to draw closer to Him. How much greater good could we receive than to know Christ our Savior more?
“Let this text produce patience, ‘All things work together for good to them that love God’ (Rom. 8:28). Shall we be discontented at that which works for our good? If one friend should throw a bag of money at another, and in throwing it, should graze his head, he would not be troubled much, seeing by this means he had got a bag of money. So the Lord may bruise us by afflictions, but it is to enrich us. These afflictions work for us a weight of glory, and shall we be discontented?” All Things for Good by Thomas Watson pp. 61 – 62
