The Works of God

God sends help in really interesting ways.

Yesterday I posted a quote from Dr. Michael Beates.

Pastor John was travelling to Florida in 1997 (I think) and met Dr. Michael Beates who was then at Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando.  Dr. Beates has a daughter with severe disabilities due to a genetic anomaly, and he trusted God as sovereign and good over all things.

I wasn’t so sure about the ‘good’ part in those days.

Pastor John kindly had Rick Gamache, then his assistant, send me an article by Dr. Beates that I’ve kept for more than 14 years.  Rick included this note with the article:

I pray that God will use it to encourage you and bring you joy and peace as you trust in his precious and very great promises.

That prayer was certainly answered!

I haven’t met Dr. Beates, but we’ve corresponded a few times over the years.  That 1996 article, less than three pages long, was remarkably helpful.

Through that article, God granted me a man who spoke a language I could understand.  He used words like ‘excruciatingly painful’ and ‘harsh reality’ – words I understood but didn’t see that often in ‘religious’ treatments on disability in 1997.

Dr. Beates sent me his dissertation a couple years later and I remember thinking that I had never seen anything like it before, either.

Seeds of grace from God’s hand.  God really is amazing.

He and Joni Eareckson Tada have a new book coming out in July that I can hardly wait to see!