Romans 15:13
I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Greg and I watched Amour, an award-winning French film about an aging couple who face serious challenges after the wife suffers a stroke that leaves her paralyzed on her right side. The couple – former piano teachers in Paris – both make numerous adjustments to their home and lifestyle to accommodate her affliction. Then she suffers a second stroke that leaves her bedridden and unable to speak. Understandably, she loses hope… and over time, so does her husband. After the movie ended, Greg and I looked at each other, and I said, “I pray that God spares us this kind of ending.”
I know that we don’t get to choose what happens… and I would never dare to tell God how things ought to go. I know that His plans are perfect… that there are reasons and outcomes that I cannot envision. I know that I must trust Him completely… and for the most part, I do a pretty good job of this.
Still, I don’t have enough fingers and toes to name those I know personally who are currently facing situations that seem hopeless. I think of a friend who just had babies she had fostered for most of their little lives removed from her home yesterday in the dark of early morning… whisked away to live with a cousin they had never even met. I think about friends who have a spouse who is seriously ill and the decisions they face daily about the care and well-being of these spouses – and themselves. I think of a friend who will bury her brother in a couple of days… and another who sits at her brother’s bedside as he appears to be losing his battle with cancer. I am reminded of my friend Mich, who lost his battle with a cancerous brain tumor that he didn’t even know he had three months ago. I have prayed today for a high school classmate, whose grand-daughter was born yesterday with Down’s Syndrome and three holes in her little heart.
I know families who struggle from day to day to pay bills and put food on the table… and others who just can’t seem to get it together in their interpersonal relationships. I know some who struggle with addictions… smoking, drinking, drugs and more – and wrestle with kicking their habits. I visited this week with an elderly mother who lives in an assisted living facility. Her daughter is fighting for her life in a hospital in a nearby city, and this mother had not received any word about her condition in two days. Another resident I visited at the same facility was deeply concerned about his friend who is experiencing health problems as he stresses over caring for his wife. I picked up the local paper and read about a man who was arrested for receiving a shipment of illegal drugs at our local post office. His mother lives on my mother-in-law’s street, and my sister and I attended elementary school with him. I thought about how hopeless she – and all of these dear people – must feel.
How do you find joy and peace when you feel so hopeless… and helpless? How do you forge ahead with confidence in the midst of such trials and suffering? There is only one answer… Jesus! Through the power of His Holy Spirit, we can feel calm and peace when life swirls around us like a whirlpool and threatens to suck us down into the depths of despair. Because of Jesus, we can believe that we will laugh again… that we will find happiness, serenity, rest and renewal…that Someone far more competent and powerful than we are is in complete control… and that all will be well. Because of Jesus, we can dare to hope and believe that God’s plan is perfect… and we can rest in this.
Today marks 50 years since the infamous speech by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. that is known to many as the “I Have a Dream” address. I also have a dream… that God is working out everything, according to His perfect plan… that I can rest in this hope and find His peace and joy in even the worst of circumstances. What is your dream? Where is your hope? Will this be the day that you rest in the LORD and begin to operate in His peace?
©2013 Debbie Robus
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