Thru Trials to Peace: A Series

Thru Trials to Peace is a book of 50 meditations about the ways in which God purposefully uses all of His people to further His kingdom work, even when they are struggling with chronic diseases or disabilities. The meditations were written by Rae Fraser while she contended with Parkinson's Disease and wide-spread, severely painful muscle cramps (a rare drug side-effect), for 26 years.

The meditations are based on insights Rae received from God's Word as she worked her way through the " Why me?" and "How can I bear it"? questions to reach the hardest one of all - "What use am I to You or anyone else now?" As she persevered in questioning God, she learned that He had her where he wanted her - in a special field of service where she could meaningfully extend His love and His Good News to other sufferers because she really understood their problems. It is Rae's experience that while the circumstances in which He has placed us may not be the ones we would choose, He has put us where we are for His own reasons, and. . . He will use us, and provide joy, as we make ourselves available to Him.

These Scripturally-based meditations are personal, sympathetic, and direct. Hard questions are not avoided, but neither are the "tough love" calls to recognize that, as Christians, we are in God's army and need to obey His commands even when it is hard. At the same time, the meditations encourage us because they reflect Rae's own inner joy and eternal certainty.

The daughter of a country school teacher, Rae Fraser grew up in several small counry towns in Western Australia as her father moved from one small school to another during the 1920's and 1930's. While fancy entertainments were lacking, the communities were usually close-knit, sharing lots of home-made activities and developing strong friendships, and Rae was always in the thick of the action. Interacting with people and and being involved in all types of physical activity were her two favorite things in life.

Even as she attended the University of Western Australia to achieve a teaching degree in English and Physical Education, physical activity continued to play a large part in her life. She was a member of the Western Australian Women's Hockey team, and also developed such athletic and dance skills that she was offered a position (which she did not take) in the Australian Royal Ballet. It was during this time that she met her future husband, Douglas Bruce Fraser (Bruce), who was pursuing a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering. After marrying in December 1946, they moved across Australia to the state of Victoria, where Bruce began an electrical engineering job, and Rae began raising a family, both of them confident that they were in control of their lives.

But God did not allow them to keep that assurance for long. After changing Bruce's heart to accept Jesus as his Lord and Savior, God then rocked Rae's world when her 2 ½ year old daughter was run over by a car, and hovered in a coma for weeks before recovering. This forced Rae to do some hard thinking, and she realised that she was actually not in control of her life. She finally recognised that God was the one in control. This pivotal change in her thinking led Rae to choose two Scripture verses to guide her future life directions.
They were from the book of Proverbs, Chapter 3, verses 5, 6
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding,
In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths."

Through all the changes in Rae's life, these words would continue to guide her thinking and actions, but the biggest test of her commitment came when she was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease at age 46. Rae was very busy at that time with family, part-time teaching, and all of the activities that go with being a minister's wife (Bruce had entered the Presbyterian ministry some years earlier). In other words, she was already serving the Lord wholeheartedly. Did this diagnosis mean she would have to stop what she was doing? Could God heal her? Would God choose to heal her? The diagnosis was certainly a shock and a challenge to her faith.

God did not heal Rae of her Parkinson's Disease, yet over the next 26 years He showed her that her disease and the suffering that went with it was part of His plan for her to participate in building His kingdom. It was not a random event. He opened to her a new ministry of reaching out to share God's love with the other sufferers who were now part of her community. After all, hope, encouragement, and knowing the way to God are just as needed by this community as by any healthy groups.

Rae carried out this God-given ministry as well as she could, and for as long as she could, in order to glorify her Heavenly Father and to be of help to others. As part of that ministry she recorded the insights God gave her from His Word, as well as those He gave her as she dealt with every-day frustrations. The meditations in her book are based on those insights, and this book, "Thru Trials to Peace", was finally published in 1991, five years before her death at age 72. Terrill Wade, editor of the second edition of Thru Trials to Peace, is the second daughter of Rae Fraser and lives in the United States. She is a retired M.D. and currently writes articles dealing with explanations of new medical procedures and tests accompanied by Christian world view assessments.
The main reason she undertook this second edition is to make sure that Rae's helpful contributions are not lost, since the first edition of Thru Trials to Peace has been out of print for some years.