Divine timing and purpose

By Kaelanne Jordan

mediarelations.camsel@catholictt.org

“… I said Lord, why did You allow this to happen to me? I know there has to be a reason. I can’t understand…why, Lord? By then I had grown spiritual, and one thing that I know…is that God is a faithful God.”

For Elizabeth Harroo, that question, asked in the depths of pain after a devastating accident, became part of a much larger story. One that mirrors the message of Easter: that suffering is not the end, and that faith can lead to renewal, healing and even reconciliation.

But long before that moment, Harroo’s life has already been marked by hardship. She married at just 16 years old, entering what she described as a deeply challenging relationship. “My husband was an alcoholic. That was a very, very difficult time in my life,” she said.

The defining shift in her life came after a family tragedy, the sudden death of her sister’s baby. “That day was a turning point in my life,” Harroo said.

Struggling to make sense of the loss, she turned to Scripture. One passage struck her with clarity and force, “‘you will drink your sisters cup, a cup that is wide and deep; yielding to laughter and mockery… You will be filled with drunkenness and sorrow. The cup of affliction and devastation…’” (Ezek 23:32–34).

Harroo said the message felt deeply personal, particularly as her sister was struggling with alcoholism. “From the time I read the first verse I knew what God was saying to me… whatever happened to my sister will happen to me.”

Determined to change course, she committed herself to God, but on her own terms. “I told the Lord if You want me to serve You, I want to serve You in the Catholic Church.”

Her decision wasn’t easy. At the time, her husband, Isaac, resisted her involvement in church activities. “You need to understand my situation…He never wanted me to go anywhere at all,” Harroo said.

Still, she persisted. “The fear of God was greater than any fear of my husband,” said Harroo, a parishioner of the Church of the Nativity, Crystal Stream, Diego Martin.

God’s healing

It was during this period that Harroo experienced what she believes was divine healing. One Wednesday, she fell and felt a lot of pain in her stomach. She went to prayer meeting.

“I felt something move within my stomach… All the pain left. Nobody knew I was in pain… and I said to myself ‘wow, it have something here’.”

Her faith deepened, even as challenges continued. Her husband briefly stopped drinking, then relapsed, a moment that left her devastated.

“I asked the Lord… ‘why did You allow this man to start back drinking’,” she said. “And the Lord said to me very clearly, ‘because that is the only thing that you will stand up for’.” Still, moments of grace persisted, even in fear.

Recalling one night when she prayed for peace in her home, she said: “I say ‘well Lord, today I want You to prove Your love for me… when I go home I don’t want any quarrel’.”

What followed strengthened her belief. “He came to bed, not a word… next thing I realised he had fallen asleep. I said ‘God, You are real’.”

Tests and endurance

In September 2023, Harroo’s faith would be tested in an entirely new way. After attending prayer meeting, she was struck by a vehicle while crossing the road. She has no memory of the accident itself. Her injuries were severe: “I woke up with a fractured neck… my jaw was fractured on both sides, shoulder…” Doctors were uncertain she would survive.

Her recovery was long and painful. Unable to walk, speak properly, or care for herself, she depended entirely on others.

“I was in diapers as I couldn’t walk… I couldn’t pray except in my mind.” Even then, her faith endured. “I knew beyond a doubt that God was carrying me through that time.”

In a turn she now sees as deeply meaningful, Harroo’s husband returned to care for her during her recovery. Soon after, in 2024, he was diagnosed with lung cancer. “I had not fully recovered yet… Well now, I have to take care of him.”

Easter’s promise fulfilled

In his final days, he sought reconciliation. “He asked me to forgive him… I told him ‘ok, I forgive’.” He died shortly after receiving Communion and the Anointing of the Sick.

For Harroo, the sequence of events reflects divine timing and purpose.

“The Lord allowed him to be there to take care of me… and then He allowed me to take care of him, too,” she said. “God gave us the opportunity to really help each other.”

Now, as Easter emphasises new life and resurrection, Harroo sees her journey as a living reflection of that promise.

“I appreciate people more now. The simple things in life. God has been good to me. He has journeyed with me through life,” she said.

Her message to others is rooted in the same faith that carried her through decades of hardship: “Read God’s Word… The Word of God is what gave me comfort… Talk to Him, tell Him how you feel. Get to know Him.”