“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose” (Rom 8:28)

This is the true story of a young beautiful woman called Lauren Scruggs. She was a fashion model. One day in 2011, she went with a pilot friend in a small private plane to see the Christmas lights from the sky. They landed on a small airport near Dallas where there was semi darkness. By mistake, she walked into the moving propeller of the plane. She survived but the accident left her without the left hand and the left eye. She was a born again Christian before the accident. The doctors told her parents that, because of her head injuries, she may have life time mental problems and depression. But God helped her recover, both spiritually and physically. She now uses an artificial hand and artificial eye. She says that God has a purpose in everything and that she is now closer to God. In the past, she was doing interviews for the fashion magazines. Now she tells people about Jesus. She says that your identity should not come from your physical beauty but from the heart. Let people see Christ in you! That is true beauty!

She wrote a book about her testimony. Listen to her words: “At first, I was angry with God; then came despair. I thought I was ugly and that no guy would ever love me and I just thought that my life was ruined… But God has healed me miraculously… He has healed my body and my soul…I think I’m seeing that this life is way bigger than me and that I think a lot of things that I held important earlier even in my career were quite shallow. II just want to use what I’ve been through to talk to young girls and let them know that our appearances are not what define us, even the insecurities that we hold onto, these don’t define us…. God has called me to just be open about what I’ve been through and just be vulnerable… God has such a different plan, and often times it’s shocking or unexpected but it’s still something really beautiful.”

This is what her mother Cheryl said: “As a mom you never dream your child is going to go through something like this. I couldn’t give her hand back to her. I couldn’t save her eye. There was nothing I could do to change it. But I did know she had a deep faith and I knew God would be our rock and Jesus would be our stronghold and that’s what we had to rely on.”

Let this young woman inspire us today. She has lost parts of her body. But she has gained a closer relationship with Christ and a higher anointing to preach His word, to encourage others. Therefore, in Christ, she is a winner! We should learn from all the experiences in life, both good and not so good. Let’s find the purpose of God in all things that concern us. Things may be difficult today. But we can gain peace, joy, wisdom and spiritual strength thru the pain today. God gives us songs in the night, in the midst of weeping! Do not look at what you have lost. Look at what God has deposited in you in the middle of that ‘loss’. Share your testimony of struggle to glory! Be sure to give all the glory to God who alone makes all things beautiful in His own time!