Dustin and Sierra were expecting a baby boy.
They were going to name him Bentley.
But shortly after they found out they were
expecting, during one of the exams,
the doctor told them there was something wrong
with the baby inside, insider her womb.
Bentley had something called encephalocele ,
which is a very rare condition in which
the baby's brain is growing on the outside of the skull.
The doctors told them there was
no way to address it while the baby
was in the womb or after the baby came
outside of the womb. And even worse,
they told them that there was no way
that a child could live outside
of the womb with this condition.
And so when Bentley was born,
the nurses, they didn't bathe him.
They didn't weigh him.
They didn't do anything.
In fact,
Dustin and Sierra didn't even buy any baby supplies
for their baby except
for just one thing, one little onesie
that they were going to bury their baby boy in.
But when Bentley was born,
he didn't die.
He kept living.
The doctors told them not to get too optimistic,
that this wasn't going to go on for very long.
But Bentley kept on living
for a couple of months until Dustin and Sierra
met a doctor named Dr. Meara,
who told them something that so far,
no one had told them up to that point.
That there was a way for Bentley
to keep on living.
Dr. Meara had invented a surgery
in which he would
cut open the baby's skull
and peel those pieces back like the petals of a flower.
And then take the brain
that was outside the skull,
reposition it inside and then tie everything
back together again and close everything up
real nicely once that was done.
And that's what he did.
And because he did, do you know what happened?
Bentley lived.
And he's still living.
He's doing fine.
Dustin and Sierra and Bentley
had no ability to control anything,
and yet they ended up with everything
for which they were hoping.
There are so many things in life that can
make us feel like Dustin and Sierra did as
they were waiting for that surgery to happen.
And God knows how hard those moments are.
Remember there was a day when God
had to wait, too.
A day when it didn't look like
anything good could ever really happen.
A day when God was holding
nothing in his hands and wearing nothing
on his back except
the sins of a whole world
that needed to be paid for and forgiven.
A day when God allowed
the vulnerable parts of his skin
to be sliced open so that we,
who get so worried
that our lives will not end well
or afraid that they don't mean anything
could see exactly how much our lives mean
to God and
live with the truth that nothing in all creation
is going to stop us from one day
experiencing the best ending of all,
when God will wipe every tear away in heaven.
And that's not the only truth
we get to live with as Christians.
There's also the truth
that Jesus shared with us in Matthew, chapter 6,
that we don't need to worry about anything,
that if God cares so perfectly
for the birds of the air and
the grass of the field,
how much more is he going to provide everything
that is needed for the crown of his creation?
And then there's the truth we find in
Romans, chapter 8, that all things in life,
even the things that don't quite go the way that
you were expecting are working together
with God
for your good.
And if that's true,
that our lives are going to end well,
that we'll always have everything we need,
and that everything in life
is always working together for your benefit,
you know what that means?
It means you don't need to spend one more moment
worrying about whether or not you
may one day love a version of
life that you may never gain.
You can simply eat,
drink and work today,
loving the life that you've already been given.
That's what Solomon means in the book Ecclesiastes
when he says this, that there's
Enjoyment.
A gif from the hand of God who in
Christ Jesus has already given us
everything.
Friends, there's so much good scripture
out there that gives us encouragement
as we wade through the troubles of life.
We mentioned a few of those scriptures
in today's devotion.
But if there are other scripture passages
or portions of scripture
that have given you great encouragement
and great strength as you wade through your, uh,
through the different things that you deal with,
would you mind sharing those so that
we can encourage one another with
the word of God and keep the encouragement
going this week?
I look forward to seeing those.
And we'll see you tomorrow.