Like rain falling heavy to the ground, I keep hearing of people who are falling into heavy times. It makes my heart ache and I am praying with all my might. But it really isn’t about my might, it’s about God’s.
I remember when Aleeda was sick in hospital and people kept praying for a miracle, for her heart to be made perfect. And when it didn’t happen I felt like it must have been because my faith wasn’t great enough. But the more I saw, the more I experienced, the more I realised that miracles are not the most common thing and being a Christian doesn’t mean that God will magically fix everything for me. Sometimes I am asked to keep walking and to trust. And isn’t that hard? The trusting that it will all work out? And while we know everything will work out for good, we don’t always want it to be God’s good, we sometimes want it to be our good, the good that we want. At least that is how I sometimes feel. So as I kept hearing bad news, sad news, heartbreaking news, I was beginning to feel myself starting to drift. I needed to feel my anchor again, my Rock. And I was cooking and looking at the verses I have on my cupboard door, my memorise door. My eyes kept resting on a passage from Daniel: ” Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and deposes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning. He reveals deep and hidden things; he knows what lies in darkness and light dwells with him. I thank you, O God of my fathers” (2:20-23a). You know what I love about this? The faithfulness and knowledge and understanding of God. The all pervasive-ness of Him. Doesn’t that sound like the God we love? The God we want to trust in? There are no promises of always good, there are no promises of our way, but there is a promise of faithfulness and greatness and power. It makes it easier to cling to that Rock when I am reminded of how far reaching his hand is. I know that I am safe with Him. I know that I have been chosen to choose Him because of his love.
Daniel spoke these words fairly early in the account of his life. It was shortly after he had been taken from his home and family. After he had been bombarded with a lifestyle that was not only foreign to him, but went against all that he had been taught up to that point in his life. He had been faced with so many challenges in such a short time. And instead of being angry and sullen and petulant, he was radiant and wise and humble. Daniel lived a storybook thriller life. Faced death on more than one occasion. Daniel’s life gave him every opportunity to be angry with God. Yet time and again, Daniel praised. Daniel lived faithfully, Daniel trusted. And God rewarded him. Maybe not on earth, but definitely in heaven. The strength Daniel displayed in his life was not a by-product of his own might, it was God. It was wisdom and courage. He faced it all, with steadfast sureness that God was good. Even when his life was not.
There are so many unknowns in life. There are corners and turns and blind-spots. There are so many things that are impossible to prepare for. And I am called to trust God at every moment, even the corner ones. It is so hard, but also so rewarding. God will bridge the gaps and fill the holes and carry us through, carry our families through, carry our children through. It just requires that I let go of my fears and worries. The greatest miracle will never be the one for healing or saving or finding. The greatest miracle will always be heaven. And the more I pray for miracles and God’s will, the more I am convinced that our ideas of earthly miracles are never going to be as great as the one God has planned for us. And I am learning to be ok with that. God is more than capable of doing all the rest. I am running the race, working on my heart, growing my understanding. He is doing all the rest. I am sure, I am convinced, I persuaded. The greatest miracle is coming.
faith from the stove 