To Hell and Back

"Smiling Lola” was how people—young and old—in church described 80-year-old Mrs. Chua. She always had a chirpy remark for every person she meets. 

To those who did not know her well, she seemed free from all problems. But her faith brethren were witnesses to the tragic events in her life. In Mrs. Chua's own words, “I have been to hell and back.” 

She had nursed her husband through cancer surgery, heart attack, stroke, and half-body paralysis until his death. Then she also struggled with cancer for years after that. 

All through her difficult journey. she ran to her prayer partners in church. They constantly prayed for and with her, assuring her that God carries His children through their fears and brings them to a better place. 

“In a better place—that's where I am today,” Smiling Lola said in one of her testimonies in  church. She confessed to the audience, “After suffering through the grief of losing my husband and then struggling with cancer myself, I cried to the Lord every day. And miraculously, He healed me."  

  

“O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you restored my health. You brought me up from the grave,O Lord. You kept me from falling into the pit of death . . . You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy.” (Psalm 30: 5-6 and 11 NLT) 

Psalm 30 was penned by David, who experienced healing so incredible he declared that in his agony and anguish, he was soaked in spectacular grace—God’s powerful hand of restoration. 

In some ways, I (and perhaps some of you) have been “to hell and back” myself. God carried me (us) through.