Hope on the Outside: Wednesday

Wednesday March 31, 2021

Created by Carrie Cubberley

John 10:10 (NIV)

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

Devotion

It was June 27, 2018. I was 44-years-old, and Dr. Thurman told me I had breast cancer. After explaining what he would do to make this cancer a “blip on the radar” of my life, he asked what questions I had. I said, “I’m supposed to go to Haiti in 10 days. To help run a summer camp. With my 17-year-old daughter.” He asked me why I thought I should go. I told him I didn’t think I should go, but I told him I desperately wanted to go. He asked, “Why?’

Why? Because a year before, I found Jesus in Haiti. I found Jesus alive — walking and talking and loving in Haiti. I found him in a small boy named Jak, who had a seizure during worship on Sunday morning — who afterwards let me hold him as we were fed Holy Communion. I found Jesus in Steve’s drumming; in Gesner’s arm-in-arm walks; in Josphine’s prayers. Dr. Thurman looked me in my eyes and said, “Then I think you need to go. Your healing from cancer will begin in Haiti.”

In a moment when cancer could have been the thief that stole that trip from me, the Holy Spirit, in the form of a small, gentle surgeon gave me peace and life. In a place many people believe is devoid of worth, the Holy Spirit, in the form of children some have called throw-aways, gave me joy and life. So I went. And Jesus was there — but this time, I knew that he had found me and he gave me not just life, but abundant life.

Prayer

Good and gracious God, help us to find hope in this weary season. Amen.