Pastor Davey Blackburn, the Indiana pastor who lost his wife in a tragic event back in 2015, recently announced his engagement to Kristi Monroy, a single mom who attends his church. While some might feel like that it's too soon for Davey to get engaged again, I believe there are a lot of good things that God wants to teach all of us through Davey's wonderful story of redemption.
And if you'd allow me, I'd like to share with you a few lessons I learned from his story of how God took his hurt and his pain, and turned it into something beautiful.
1) Tragedy may come at any time
Davey's wife, Amanda, was the victim of a terrible robbery in the one place she should have been the safest - her own home. She was innocent, and for sure she did not deserve such a thing to be done to her, but the tragic event happened and she died.
Some of us Christians can't believe that God would allow such a thing to happen. We think that when bad events happened, God was the one hurting us. After all, He promised to be with us, right? If so, why do bad things happen?
Amanda's death devastated Davey. It shocked the whole faith community. It grieved us. But this is the world we live in: a world marred by sin and death. We don't rejoice at the death of a sister, and we certainly don't rejoice at the grief of a brother. But bad things do happen to good people, whether we like it or not.
2) God is always at work
Have you ever read in the Bible that God's throne is "established from of old," that God is everlasting (see Psalm 93:2)? Regardless of what's happening to us, God is always at work and in control.
Such is the same for Davey. He was grieving, but God was in the details. Amanda's attackers were apprehended by the law, and Davey met some people and found himself in environments where he was given the chance to grow. And without Davey knowing it, in the midst of his grief, God was working out a future meeting with Kristi.
When you read Davey's blog entry narrating how God healed him from the loss of Amanda, redeemed his love story, and allowed him to have another chance at love with Kristi, you'll be amazed at how God writes such beautiful stories of redemption.
3) That God does trade our ashes for beauty
Just when he thought there'd be no moving on from his loss, Davey met Kristi. In fact, Davey said God had given him more than just a wife: a woman who loves God more than him; and a woman who loves him, his son Weston, and yes, even his beloved first wife Amanda.
God gave him all that, and more.
When I think about this, I am reminded of God's redeeming love for all of us. We were all sinners deserving nothing but God's wrath. But instead of pouring out all His wrath on us, He chose to pour it all on His Son Jesus Christ as He hung on the cross.
We were sinners who had no hope of redemption, but God redeemed us through the death and resurrection of Christ.
Friends, God can do so much more than just save us for eternity. He gave Davey a new chapter full of hope while living on earth. If He could do that to Davey, He could do that to anybody who trusts in Him.
Read more about Davey Blackburn's engagement here
