It has been a tough week.

Watching my 13 month old daughter go from having a routine fever into a full blown pneumonia in a week had me all over the place with my thoughts and emotions.

Seeing her have an IV stuck in her arm and having to put a breathing mask on her face to open up her lungs left me feeling helpless. And that’s not a feeling any parent wants to feel. You want to be able to protect your child from any of the world’s troubles.

I would rather be sick than her.

Having a sick child has made me feel sad, angry at myself, short-tempered with my wife and hoping God would heal her instantly because I believe in Him and I’m a Christian.

Well, if only God worked that way.  Hmm…..

A couple of nights ago, I watched a TV Program called Unsung. The program chronicles singers or bands from the 70s and 80s.  Their rise to stardom.  Their fall from stardom and everything in between.

On this episode, they chronicled the career of the singer, Teddy Pendergrass.

Teddy came into prominence in the early 70’s by singing in the group, Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes.  He was the lead singer on their classic hit, If You Don’t Know Me By Now. That song has been covered by Simply Red and Seal in recent years.

However, Pendergrass went solo in the mid 70’s and became a huge star by the end of decade with songs like Love T.K.O, Close The Door, & Turn Off The Lights. He had multi-platinum albums, worldwide concerts (actually he was first artist to have women-only concerts), fame, fortune, and a bright future.

And then in 1982, everything changed.  Teddy Pendergrass got into a car accident and he became a paraplegic. There was a companion with him in the accident but this person only had minor injuries.

Teddy had everything and now it was gone in an instant. Doctors said he only had 7 to 10 years to live after the accident. For a couple of years after the accident, Pendergrass admitted not wanting to live anymore but couldn’t commit suicide.

Well, Teddy ended up living for almost 28 more years after the accident until he died earlier this year at the age 59.  He left a legacy of his music and also he left a legacy of helping paraplegics have a better quality of life.

After watching that program,  I got to thinking about my daughter’s sickness and Teddy Pendergrass’ tragedy and have realized that trouble can and will come to all of us while we are living.

I know to most you that an obvious thing to write.  But in our culture, we don’t do sickness and tragedy well.  And I don’t think you can ever truly prepare for it.

However, it can effect every human being on the planet.  It can go from a baby to a famous singer to a single mother to a prominent politican.  Troubles cut through every boundary that society has created.

And even in Christianity….a lot of us think that just having faith will get us through. Hmm….  You know what, we can have doubts and fears just like anybody else.

Immediately, I thought about the Book of Job from the Old Testament.  I would recommend every Christian read that Wisdom book often as you can especially if you are going through a difficult life situation.

Job had everything and it was taken away from him.  His wife and friends wanted to him to curse God and die.  He didn’t and God ended up restoring everything back to him better than he had originally.

Most Christians know the story of the Book of Job.  But what is not talked about or taught in Church is that Job had his doubts. God consider him blameless and upright.  You would think he would have more faith than most of us.

Well, his faith was tested and he even pleaded and complained to God about his situation. However, he did one thing that we should all do when trouble hits our lives…….he never turn away from God.

I will finish the column with this verse:

Consider the work of God,

Who can make straight what he has made crooked.

(Ecclesiastes 7:13 ESV Bible)