He was There!

He was There!
By Shirley Mitchell

“Turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted. Relieve the troubles of my heart and free me from my anguish.”
Psalm 25:16-17

“The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.”
Psalm 145:18


I have one more story to share with you about Lifeway’s National Women’s Leadership Forum in Ridgecrest. It was the 15th anniversary of the forum. The key note speaker Beth Moore was reminiscing about 15 years ago. She reminded us of the potluck dinner on Wednesday nights. She told us about how her honorarium used to be a corsage, a flower that she would wear when she taught.

As she was talking a walk down her memory lane, I asked the Lord where was I 15 years ago? Now this was the third day of the conference that was celebrating 15 years of women’s ministry. The 15 year theme was prevalent. It was not until I had the fullness of the picture of what those precious women’s ministry leaders were doing 15 years ago, that God reminded me where I was 15 years ago.

It should have been fresh on my mind because the Sunday before I left for the trip, I was at my mother’s house. We too were taking a walk down memory lane. It was the 15 anniversary of my father’s unexpected death.

Exactly 15 years ago, I was living in Guam. While my father died early in the morning U.S. time, it was my nighttime in Guam. So my family waited until I came to work the next day so I wouldn’t be alone. My commander led my best friend Jean and me to his office. In that office, a family member told me my father was dead. For the next 24 hours I cried continuously. Someone took care of my flight arrangements. They took me to the airport. All I had to do was get on a plane. Even when I checked in at the airport, I didn’t stop crying. As tears streamed down my face, I communicated with the Continental Airline agent. When I arrived to Kentucky, I was still crying.

During all those tears that day and the days that followed I wondered, “God, where are You? Do You care about me? Are You involved in my life? Are you going to do anything to help me here? I can’t deal with this and I need You to do something.” I was not walking with God so I didn't have a daily relationship with Him. God was only useful for me for 911 calls.

Now fast forward to 15 years later , the last day of the forum. God opened my eyes to see what He had done. At the exact time that I was grieving, He was working with a small group of women’s ministry leaders to give them a vision to reach women like me. In-depth Bible study and discussing the Bible in small groups with our women who are in pursuit of God has radically changed my life and my family lineage. Through this, I know God! I gained Him, my very great reward and Jesus, very best friend. God didn’t just comfort me for the moment and hold me while I cried and grieved heavily for months and months. He mended my broken heart and led me down a path so that I could know the one true living God. The path I couldn’t see back then is so evident to me now. I had never been the way before so I would not have known it. But He didn’t leave me alone in my tears. He was with me, and He was making a way to heal me!

So I’m hear to tell you my dear friend, does it ever seem to you that God is not coming through for you in your time of deepest need? Know that He will never leave you nor forsake you. He is constantly working things out for your good. He is doing something behind the action shots of your life and those hard times that is beyond what your sweet limited eyes can see. Trust Him with the troubles of your heart that He will free you from anguish. He won’t leave you in loneliness and affliction. He is near to the broken-hearted.ay of the forum, He opened my eyes to see that at that exact time I was grieving, He was working with a small group of women's ministry leaders to give them a vision for women's ministry that radically changed my life - and has impacted my family lineage like nothing else on earth!

He opened my eyes to see that at that exact time I was grieving, He was working with a small group of women's ministry leaders to give them a vision for women's ministry that radically changed my life - and has impacted my family lineage like nothing else on earth!

Pray with me: Praise You, Father! You are near to all that call on You. You are close by! You are involved. You are our ever-present help in time of need. We may not see You. We may not know what You are up to. But You never leave us alone to handle things on our own. You are constantly working things together for our good. You mend the broken hearted in far deeper and more thorough ways than we can imagine! We praise You for Your tender mercies to us. All of this we pray in the Name above all names and the Name that someday every knee will bow and every tongue will confess, in Jesus’ Name, Amen.