The Hope that doesn't disappoint - Thoughts from the valley

“God will not protect you from anything that will make you more like Jesus.”
(Elisabeth Elliot)

This right here is a paradigm shift.

How often do we pray,

“Lord, take this sickness away!”

“Lord, heal my child!”

“Lord, keep him/her safe on the road!”

Is it wrong to pray this way?

I don’t think so. In the Bible, we hear of Paul’s prayer. He had a persistent issue. We don’t know much about what that was, but we do know that it was painful and that he pleaded with God to take it away. In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10, he says this…

7So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations,^a a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Death, pain, suffering. They are all part of the curse. They are violence to everything God created as good. Jesus himself wept over sin, and all the horrible effects of it. (John 11:35)

But in the end, can we cry out, “Lord, not my will, but yours, be done!”? (Luke 22:42)

Could we trust Him to do the right thing?

There is not a day that goes by that I do not ache for my son. For the smile that seemed to carry within it such a balm for my weary soul. I miss the arms that wrapped around me in a gentle hug, the voice on the other end of the phone saying, “Hey mom.” Today, I ache for him. But I also lift up my eyes.

My heart cries out this prayer to my Lord…

Lord, lift up my eyes to the hills. To the place outside of this valley. Not down to Sheol. The grave holds nothing for me. But upwards…that’s where my hope lies. I remember, as a child hiking with friends in the mountains of Colorado. We endured the pain because of something outside of ourselves. Of a hope of seeing something glorious. Of resting in the fields of meadow flowers, beside crystal blue mountain lakes. The hope I have of seeing you, of being with Caleb again, isn’t just any hope. But SAVING HOPE. You created the earth, the heavens, and everything in them. I’m always astonished that you also care for me. Just the tiniest blip in the vast universe! You care what happens to me. And because of your immense and saving love, you will not allow anything to happen to us that has not passed through your sovereign hands. Even the bad. The car crashes, the broken relationships, the cancer, the prodigal children, the mental illness, the plans that didn’t quite work out like I imagined, the death of a beating heart within the womb. All of it. You withhold nothing from me that will make me more like Jesus.