You may have heard of 7-year-old, second-grader, Vinny Desautels of Roseville, California, who selflessly grew out his hair for two year to donate to "wigs for kids with cancer." Within those two years, he was teased by peers and mistaken for a girl dozens of time, with which he would simply respond, "Nah, I'm a boy." He stuck with his task because he knew in the end, it was all for a good cause. Vinny told Sacremento Fox Affiliate on Sunday, "I want to help people so they don't have to go to the doctors to fight cancer."
But devastatingly enough, Vinny has recently been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer. At first, Vinny complained of a stinging pain behind his eye, which is parents attributed to his seasonal allergies. Vinny's eye, however, continued to swell, despite prescription eye drops and allergy medication. Soon after, Vinny complained of knee pain, and his parents discovered a lump on his right hip. These two instances appeared to be linked. After several blood tests, MRIs, and CT scans, doctors diagnosed Vinny with an aggressive form of stage 4 cancer. Currently, the family awaits the diagnosis of Ewings sarcoma, a rare type of tumor that forms in the tissue of bone.
According to CNN, Vinny's mother is a self-employed hairstylist who is also six-months pregnant. It is difficult for the family to juggle expenses, a pregnancy, and a family, not to mention this devastating diagnosis. They decided to set up a GoFundMe, which has miraculously reached $457,030 as of March 14, 2016. Because of this, the family has recently decided to suspend their GoFundMe, so donations can be used for other families who have children with cancer, such as Hayden, who has Hodgkin's Lymphonia (you can donate to Hayden here).
Many people may wonder where God's hand is in all of this. When I first saw this topic "trending" on Facebook, my heart broke. I remember seeing pictures of little Vinny, grinning cheerfully with his long locks hanging past his little shoulders. He took the taunts, the ridicule, and the questions, because he knew in his heart that what he was doing was right; it was fearless, shameless, selfless.
I remember scrolling through the comments, some people sending prayers and well wishes to Vinny, while others questioned God; they were angry with Him. And some comments were simply heartless, saying things along the lines of "well, you reap what you sow, this kid must have done something wrong."
With which I want to respond, how could you? How could you pass judgement on a little boy fighting for his very life? Where is your compassion? Where is your heart for a broken, aching, dying world? What God do you serve?
I understand the anger. I understand why people would be angry with God for "allowing this to happen." I once was told that you can be angry with God, because He can take it.
But friends, evil does not care. This evil is disgusting, malicious, repulsive. It manifests itself with a blind rage. It is the very opposite of grace. It cares not for the selfless little boy named Vinny Desautels, it does not care for the bleeding and broken, it wishes only to destroy them, and to rip them further from the hand of the Father.
Unfortunately, I do not have all the answers. I cannot answer why God would "allow something like this to happen." But I do know this; it is not God who we should be brutally blaming, it is Him who we should be running to in times of crisis. When we have known darkness, we must cling desperately to what is light. I am reminded of the brokenhearted words of Ronald Reagan, after the Challenger explosion. He addressed the nation, and spoke specifically to the schoolchildren saying, "I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen." Painful things, horrible and terrible things happen, because sin is present in our world. We don't understand it in full, and we never will.
But hope is found in a God that is so very near to those who have known pain, as Psalm 34:18 states, "The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves the crushed in spirit." Sin warps our vision, tricking us into thinking that because evil is so widespread, that God is too far away to care. This world is ruled by evil, but our hope is stronger than sickness, hurt, and death itself. These are the times in wich we need God with every fiber in our being.
I pray for Vinny and his family, that the light and love of Jesus would be so very prevelant and powerful, as we pray for healing and an ever-present hope.