Encouragement

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“I went through hail to walk with Jesus,” I told my very best friend early that spring morning.

“Did he bring you through it okay?” she asked me sheepishly.

“I prayed the whole way. And here I am.” “Well then,” she said, I guess you were meant to be here.”

We were beginning the annual live Stations of the Cross at the parish where my boyfriend attended. I wasn’t even catholic, yet something at propelled me to weather a 30 mile and one hour long hailstorm on the high plains of West Texas to walk with Jesus that afternoon. I would soon find out why.

It was the spring of 1992, and I was deeply immersed in my studies to become a Catholic. I was away at college, and living about 150 miles away from my catholic boyfriend and had made plans to come “home” to spend Easter with him and his family. We got out of class on Thursday at noon and I headed down from Canyon to Stanton. At Plainview I was met with a violent thunderstorm.

I started the afternoon in pure sunshine. By 3pm, the sky became overcast. Then it turned green. Then the rains came. The traffic began to crawl. Then came the hail. Our cars moved ever slower. Then the pounding began to shake the roof on my car. It was hailing the size of quarters. The traffic was completely immobile for thirty minutes. I crawled in the floorboard for refuge and began to pray quietly, “Oh Jesus, please help me.” Then the pounding became deafening. Before I knew it, I was screaming my prayer, “OH MY JESUS, PLEASE HELP ME, PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!” And then it did. All was silent. I rose up in the seat and the traffic began to move. I drove on.

I turned on the radio to discover that a tornado had touched down 5 miles west of where my car sat stranded with other motorist. It stopped and turned north. It was the same tornado that destroyed Saragosa, Texas.

To this day, I believe that the thunderstorm was a test of my faith. It was the most violent storm I have ever experienced. The sky opened up and rained golf balls of icy hail upon my brand new car. The traffic was at a complete standstill on the interstate. There were no exit signs. Nowhere for me to get off of this highway of turmoil and violence. All I could do was drive straight ahead and pray.

My trip was not unlike the walk of remembrance I was going to be a part of a day later. The Live Stations of the Cross are a reminder of Jesus’ journey from conviction to crucifixion. Jesus knew when he was arrested that he was to be crucified. He also knew that he had to stay on his path. It was the Lord’s will that he die on the cross for our sins. There was no way out. All he could do was walk straight ahead and pray.

As I walked along that sultry spring day, singing songs and witnessing firsthand the sufferings of Jesus, my heart opened up and my faith was changed forever. Everything that had bothered me and weighed heavy on my shoulders days before seemed so irrelevant compared to the sufferings I witnessed.

When we reached the bottom of the hill that leads to the cemetery, I saw the three crosses laying in wait for us. Tears began to well in my eyes. I knew this was the end of the walk. I knew it was the end for Jesus. All that he and I had been through the past few days would be culminated at the top of the hill.

Then it happened.

The actors were placed upon the crosses and the crucifixion was reenacted. The crowd was silent. The sky became overcast. I became a participant in the pages of scripture. Nothing else mattered but that very moment. Jesus had died for me.

I had driven through a thunderstorm to get to the top of that mountain. My car was dented and my faith had been tested, and I was forever changed. A biblical truth had been revealed. No matter the trials and tribulations you go through in your life, nothing compares to the pain and anguish Jesus suffered for us on the cross. He suffered more than I will ever suffer. But no matter the size of my anguish he will always bring me through it. I might be bruised and battered, but I will live and I will grow.

He will bring you out of your own kind of hell just like he brought me through mine. All you have to do is pray. And believe.

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