For a Greater Purpose

God specializes in shining His light into dark places, so in the manifestation of His presence, people will be drawn to Him. In the midst of our challenges, He proves Himself faithful. 2nd Corinthians 4 states:
6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
8 We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair;
9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed--
10 always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

By now, perhaps you have heard about a series of shark attacks along the Florida Gulf Coast, in which three people suffered injuries.

One of those was a teenager from Mountain Brook, Lulu Gribbin.  Her mother spoke about the incident online, and that was covered in an 1819 News story recently.  

Ann Blair Gribbin and her twin daughters, Lulu and Ellie, went to the beach with friends.  According to the story:

Gribbin said things started to get tense after one mother called for her daughters and couldn’t find them.

Lulu later told her parents she was in waist-high water with six friends, looking for sand dollars, when the shark attacked. She said a man pulled her out of the water, and another boy helped carry her to the beach. Other beachgoers helped apply tourniquets.

Her sister, Ellie, had found Lulu lying on the beach.  The article relates:

Gribbin said her daughter was lifeless and pale. She said the damage left behind by the shark was horrific. EMTs quickly responded and airlifted the teen to Sacred Heart Hospital in Pensacola.

After an hour and 20-minute ride by a friend and multiple prayers for survival, Gribbin finally reached the hospital, where Lulu was already in surgery. Lulu had lost her left hand in the shark attack, and her right leg had to be amputated.

Ann Blair Gribbin, Lulu's mother, wrote, “At this point, we will have multiple surgeries in the days to come and our lives will be forever changed,” adding, “Lulu is strong, beautiful, brave and so many more things I can't count. God has a plan for her, and we will be there to support her every way we can.” She also said: "I know this was a terrible accident, but God was there and had the people there who helped save her life...Lulu said she felt God in the back of the beach truck. She is truly a miracle.”

On his Facebook page, Rick Karle provided some incredible context about what happened at Seacrest Beach, Florida that day: "Dr. Ryan Forbess of Orange Beach Family Medicine...doesn't get a lot of time off, but last Friday he was enjoying the surf with his children and his good friend, Dr. Moh Ali..." He said:

They heard the fear and saw the splashes.
"Shark! Out of the water!," they heard.
Dr. Forbess and Dr. Ali ran to the scene as a man carried a teenage girl out of the ocean.
Beachgoers Matthew Lidle, Sterling Duncan, Stephen Beene and others had sprinted toward Lulu, going so far as to beat the shark.
Two trauma nurses were nearby- they jumped into action to join the doctors and others,
Within seconds the beach patrol was on the scene, and first responders would follow.

What took place was a group of doctors, nurses, lifeguards, paramedics, fire department officials and yes, everyday folks like us working in concert to save lives.

"It had to be a God thing," Orange Beach Family Medicine employee Shari Woody told me.
"All of those people being in the exact place where they were needed was a miracle," Shari added.

The incredible narrative continued:

Doctors Forbess and Ali went to work, placing a tourniquet on Lulu Gribbin's left wrist and her right leg.
"Dr. Ali is a radiologist and he knew exactly where to put pressure on the girl's limbs," Shari told me.
"It looked like a trauma unit at work, except it was happening on a beach," said Shari.

It was a terrible occurrence, and three people, including two Mountain Brook teenagers, suffered injury.  Some might wonder why God didn't stop the shark from attacking.  The truth is, in this fallen world marred by sin, tragedy will occur.  There will be destruction, and even death.  Lulu Gribbin is now experiencing a "new normal."

But, consider the impact of what really happened in the Gulf and on the beach that day. A greater purpose was at work - it showed the miraculous orchestration of the Creator of all things to accomplish an outcome that is far beyond our understanding.  God, in His sovereignty and foreknowledge, had just the right people in place in order to provide a set of developments that could cause people to marvel. And, Lulu and her family have an opportunity to bring God glory through suffering. 

We can adopt a mindset of being thankful to God, even in our suffering; because through our adversity, we can experience the inward work of the Spirit and we can testify to the goodness of God, who walks through us in our difficult times.  And, that can be comforting to people who are facing their own struggles.