He Will Do What Only He Can Do
June 6 2026 — Pam Stalets
One thing that is true about tragedy is that it never asks our permission to have its cause and effect in our lives. It certainly doesn't ask our preference on when it strikes. No. It happens, often suddenly and unexpectedly, and is always unwanted. Completely unwanted.
Our house was no exception. When our sixteen-year-old son was diagnosed with leukemia, the prognosis was good. It was a type of cancer that was curable. Our hopes were high for a full and complete recovery until, suddenly and unexpectedly, things went very wrong. Due to complications, our Robbie died. He is fully alive in Christ, in Heaven, and for this we are grateful, however, our lives here on earth changed radically. We found ourselves having to learn to accept a life here on earth that we did not want. This became one of my greatest struggles in this grief journey. The life that was, versus the life that is now. It was like a vicious tug-of-war in my soul, each side pulling hard to triumph over the other. For three years I lived caught in the middle of this tug-of-war, wanting to go back to life with Robbie in it, which was not possible, to being unwilling to see a life forward that could still have meaning and purpose. I wanted the impossible and it was tormenting my soul. The battle was real.
Perhaps this is how Naomi felt in the book of Ruth. I can't help but think that Naomi and her husband, Elimelech, planned to one day return to Bethlehem after the famine there was over; the same famine that drove them to settle in Moab. She hoped to return to Bethlehem with a larger family than she left with, one accompanied by her husband, her two sons, two daughters-in-law and some grandchildren. Instead, she returned as a widow, a bereaved mother of two, and one daughter-in-law. She said in Ruth 1:21 "I went out full, and the Lord has brought me home again empty. I think she may have felt the same tug-of-war. She went from being Naomi [meaning sweet] to Mara [meaning bitter]. I found this happening in my own soul.
However, Naomi's story ended differently than she imagined, but it was still a life of meaning and purpose. God saw to it. The same was true of Joseph and many others in scripture. And if it was true for them, then it is also true for you and me.
Two things helped to settle the tug-of-war and to open my heart to embrace the new life ahead.
Isaiah 61:3 says, “... and provide for those who grieve in Zion — to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.”
God is the one who rebuilds us, it is within His will, His heart and His power to do so!
Psalm 103:4-5 says, "who redeems your life from destruction, who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies. Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagles".
In 2011, I was on my way to a Bible conference in Broken Arrow, OK and traveled through Joplin, MO to get there, just a few months after the deadly Joplin tornado. It was catastrophic. What struck me though was that you could still see the foundations of the buildings and homes that once stood there. A sign of life amidst devastation. After my son died in 2015 these images came back to me. They spoke to my embattled heart. Christ is the firm foundation in our lives that no force of death or power of hell can destroy. He redeems and restores us even from ashes.
Psalm 73:26 - "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."
"But God,” these are two small words that change everything.
I read an article by Lisa Appelo titled, 31 “But God” Bible Versus. She said the following:
"But God" brings hope when we can't see a way through.
"But God" means ashes aren't the end of our story.
"But God" says God, not our circumstances, always gets the last word.
Keep going, keep breathing, don't give up. God has a plan to redeem your story. He is the author of it, not death and not the enemy. He will do what only He can do for His glory and to our amazement. Trust Him.
