Have you ever wondered where God is in the midst of your heartache?

Growing up, I often wondered this very question.

This is my story of growing up with a brother with special needs.

I was asked to give this talk in person this past spring by a dear mom I know. Because of Covid that didn’t happen, but God gave me the courage to share my story in video form.  I pray you find the love of Jesus here.

I cried often when I thought of my brother’s physical disabilities. I prayed for healing from his car accident.

Like Mary Magdalene I cried. I wondered where God was. If only Jesus were here…

Only later in life did God reveal to me how He’s always been there. He’s was with my brother David in the midst of his injuries, with my mom and dad and sister, and with me in my own sorrow and longing for his healing. And He was with us when my brother left his broken body for his new glorious heavenly body.

Mary’s words are a beautiful picture and reminder that even as we cry out wondering where the Lord is, Jesus is right there with us.

Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”

Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

Jesus said to her, “Mary.”

She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”).

–Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene

 “She saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize it was Jesus.”

Dear Reader, He is with you too.

If you haven’t yet heard this song from Zach Williams and Dolly Parton, listen and be blessed by their lyrics:

Even when I didn’t know or couldn’t see it,

There was Jesus!