All things together

In the summer of 2021, I met a 28-year-old woman, “Jocelyn”. She had survived a drive-by shooting in which she had been hit seven times, and she came to the hospital with a bullet still inside her, to undergo physical therapy so she could get strong enough to have the bullet surgically removed. She was in severe pain and often became teary, though she was grateful for the pain because that meant she wasn’t paralyzed.

Jocelyn had been a devout Christian her whole life. Her belief didn’t waver; she welcomed prayer and found comfort in listening to Gospel music, but when she arrived, she asked the understandable question of why God had not protected her against the gunshots. As time went by, though, her focus shifted. She talked less about herself and more about God and especially about forgiveness. She recognized that her beloved Jesus was calling her to forgive the shooter, and as she focused on Jesus and forgiveness, she began to find peace and healing.

By the time she left the hospital, instead of asking why God had not protected her, she was asking why God had let her live. Her answer was that God was calling her to become a motivational speaker for other trauma survivors. She knew she was called according to God’s purpose and that God would take the disaster she had lived through and bring good from it.

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28