This is a beautiful article from Marisa Shadrick about hope in times of
strife and how is can come back strongly even though things may appear
bleak. I hope it offers inspiration and encouragement to you.
May God bless,
Carl
website -- http://www.nettally.com/saints/
blog -- http://www.anniemayhem.com/cgi-bin/wordpress/
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Rekindling Hope
By Marisa Shadrick
"A bruised reed he will not break, and
a smoldering wick he will not snuff out."
Isaiah 42:3
A persistent pounding on the front door startled me from deep sleep.
Underneath my ****ch light stood a police officer who delivered the news
with
an even voice: "Your son has been arrested."
I gripped the doorway, heart beating wildly. Hot tears blinded me as I
listened to the details of Aaron's arrest. Even as the officer walked back
to his car and drove away, I stood there frozen, drowning in a swell of
emotions, his piercing words echoing in my mind.
I knew I had to call my husband (who was out of town on business), but all
I
could do was wrestle with the impossibility of the situation: "Lord, this
can't be happening to us-we're a Christian family! We've dedicated
ourselves
to You. We pray together, go to Bible study, serve as church leaders. How
could You withhold Your hand of protection from us?"
Our teenaged son had demonstrated some behavioral changes his senior year
of
high school. On the exterior, he seemed like himself, but he was beginning
to keep questionable company. We tried to intercept the problem, sought
pastoral counseling, and blanketed him with constant prayer.
But it was too late. Aaron was arrested as an accomplice in an attempted
burglary. Due to the nature of the theft-firearms-and the fact that the
owner appeared at the scene, the crime quickly escalated into numerous,
seemingly unrelated, felonies. He was tried as an adult, convicted on all
counts, and sentenced to 18 years in a California state penitentiary. That
day, my son shuffled out of the courtroom in ankle cuffs to a life behind
bars, away from his family. It was an image that haunted me for years.
Aaron
was neither dead nor alive. He became a ghost in a matter of moments.
A Thread of Faith
My faith began to fade as a result of my deep discouragement. When my
husband's job required us to relocate, I hoped a fresh start would heal my
spirit. But, I still couldn't speak about what had happened. Outwardly, I
paraded my "strong Christian" appearance; inwardly I was screaming with
desperation. Something in me was dying, and I didn't know how to revive
it.
I felt I was hanging by a thread, slipping away from my spiritual
foundation.
But this thread was enough for God's faithfulness to prove strong. I was
reminded of Rahab's story, in which a cord of scarlet thread saved her
household when the city walls fell (Joshua 2:18-21). She risked her life
to
protect Israel's scouts-because she'd heard about the greatness of God. On
what little she knew, Rahab believed the Lord would save her if she asked
in
faith. And that was enough. Just as He honored the cry of her heart, He
will
rescue us if we throw out a thin cord to Him, even in the midst of our
despair.
Though I saw myself as faithless and weak, my cry to Jesus activated a
remnant of faith. I was acknowledging who I was in relation****p to God-a
finite vessel in the care of my infinite Creator. My "mustard seed" prayer
of "God, help me" invited His healing power. I didn't need to be strong; I
just needed to submit to Him once again. James 4:7 says surrender empowers
the believer and forces the Devil to flee. Once I submitted, my heart and
mind were refreshed and guarded with God's peace (Philippians 4:7).
A Heart of Wor****p
God understands our frailties and emotions and wants us to be honest with
Him. Psalm 73 and 77 are im****tant examples of how God receives our
honesty
as wor****p when we direct it to Him instead of masking it with what we
think
we should be feeling.
Asaph, the Levitical wor****p leader who wrote the songs, was facing deep
doubt. In Psalm 73, he questions God about why evil people seem to
prosper.
He knew, in theory, that God was just and compassionate toward the
suffering. But, he couldn't see any proof. In Psalm 77, the songwriter's
sense of agonizing abandonment prompted him to pour out his heart to God:
"Will the Lord reject forever? ... Has His promise come to an end forever?
Has God forgotten to be gracious, or has He in anger withdrawn His
compassion?" (77:7-9). Asaph's emotions had forged a narrow perception of
God. But, he knew his doubts contradicted the truth residing deep in his
heart. Halfway through both prayers, something changes. In the first, the
defining moment occurred when Asaph "came into the sanctuary of God," and
in
the second, when he chose to remember and dwell on who the Lord is and all
the wonderful things He has done (73:17; 77:10-20).
We, too, can gain deep spiritual strength by choosing to remember God's
mercy and give Him the kind of praise with which Asaph ended his anguished
prayers: "Whom have I in Heaven but You? And Earth has nothing I desire
besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my
heart and my ****tion forever" (73:25-26 NIV).
Strength out of Weakness
When emotions peak and fall like a never-ending roller coaster, we can
allow
God to harness them for our benefit rather than letting them control us.
Negative emotions can actually serve as a window to our hearts, providing
a
sobering view of our perspectives, fears, and fallacies so we can deal
with
them. If we're willing to face the truth, our thoughts and feelings can be
turned back toward Christ, the One who equips us to govern them (2
Corinthians 10: 4-5). God's Word showed me that discouragement was only an
emotion-not something that defined who I am. Our emotions aren't
indicative
of our holiness. Our righteousness is secure through Christ (1 Corinthians
1:30).
I needed to be totally honest with God and myself, sharing not only my
neatly sanitized "Christian" prayers, but also my denials of His
faithfulness. I had to release my son into God's hands. I was ashamed of
my
unbelief in His sovereignty, but I remembered how Jesus bore my shame on
the
Cross-so I wouldn't lose heart (Hebrews 12:2-3).
When Peter was distraught over his denial of Jesus, an angel instructed
the
women at the tomb to go "tell His disciples and Peter" that Christ was
alive
(Mark 16:7, emphasis added). And later, Jesus personally restored him
(John
21:15-17). God showed me similar compassion and love. Fear and sin didn't
change Peter's identity or future in Christ. His character was refined
through this experience in a way that might have been impossible had his
weaknesses not been brought to light.
Likewise, our challenges contain potential to strengthen our faith. While
my
son was physically imprisoned in a cement cell, my heart was spiritually
imprisoned by discouragement. Attempts to escape this spiritual prison
were
painful, almost like trying to climb over the barbed wire surrounding the
state penitentiary. I needed Jesus to escort me out.
We can stop struggling to perfectly balance our lives, because ironically,
God very often uses life to bring us into balance with Him. Jesus came to
set our hearts free and give us hope-crowning us with "beauty instead of
ashes . gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a
spirit of despair" (Isaiah 61:3 NIV).
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