TRANSFORMED BY TROUBLE AND TRIAL

Cian Barros Mas

It was the worst pain I have ever felt. I was pulling my hair off my head and pounding on the floor. I didn’t want to move, I didn’t know what to do and so did the people around me.

                It was the middle of the third quarter. Even if this was just a friendly game of basketball, I was giving all my best. I was going for the shot…then it happened. Everyone was waiting for me to stand up but I couldn’t.  A spectator came to me and said, “I’m a nurse, what’s wrong?” I said, “I felt my knee move.” They rushed me to the hospital.

                But despite the excruciating pain, I didn’t blame anyone. I did not blame myself for playing and for giving my all, I did not blame the guy who bumped me in the air, and most of all, I didn’t question God. Instead I prayed, “O Lord, be with me, just please be with me.”

With the Lord near, I knew I will be strong to face whatever is ahead. When the doctor said I suffered  an infrapatelar tendon rupture and they had to open up my knee, the thought of that just made me say to myself, “ayoko na, just take me home.” But I had to face the music. On the day of surgery, I was so scared, I kept on saying, “Lord be with me, just please be with me.” Finally, after three hours of surgery, I woke up and immediately thanked the Lord for being with me, calming my fears. I thanked Him for a successful operation, and for the presence of family and friends.

                While recovering, I took more time to read the Bible and the Purpose Driven Life book. Two chapters hit me most. The sentence, “The Lord has made everything for His purposes” in chapter 7 caught my eye. But it was chapter 25 that comforted me. “God could have kept Joseph out of jail, Daniel out of the Lion’s den, Jeremiah from being tossed in the pit, but He didn’t. He let those problems happen, and every one of those persons was drawn closer to God as a result.”