Facing Despair With Faith

Her husband is in Hospice. They are waiting for the inevitable.His marriage is gone. His wife moved out and took the girls. It's final.She has melanoma. The future promises to be filled with pain. The prognosis is not good.He can't find a job and they are living at an existence level.Her baby is going to be born soon—but ultra sound shows that he will be neither healthy nor sound.She has been alone almost two years, but the horrible void and loneliness are still there.The healing process is so slow and there are times when she wants to throw herself on the floor and cry, "No! No! I don't want to live like this!"I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait on the Lord; be strong and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait on the Lord. Psalm 27:13-14Wait. Wait? Yes, wait. "For what? I've been waiting a long time and nothing has changed. It's obvious that I can't cope. It isn't going to get any better.""Satan will seize the disappointment caused by the difference between our expectations and God's manifestations and assert that God doesn't care, that He is mean, capricious, aloof, petty, and unloving. When we cannot find Father's hand, we must trust His heart of grace." ¹Ponder carefully. Be sure of your answer.Do you believe in God? "Yes."Do you know for sure and certain that you are His child—that you have asked Jesus to be your Savior? "Yes. I am very sure."Do you know what kind of Father-God He is, even though it may not seem that way just now? "He is fair. He loves me. He is all-powerful."He has not proven Himself to be all-powerful up to this point. How do you explain that? "I can't see what's to come. He can. He knows everything about everyone."What good can possibly come out of your circumstances now? "I can allow Christ to live through me and be a witness of His grace and strength, showing everyone in my world how great He is!"How can you do that? You're hurting, confused, emotionally torn up, exhausted! "I can't. But Christ living in me can do all things. That's one of His promises. I believe Him."God must allow circumstances such as these to come into the lives of His children, sometimes the most devoted, the ones who walk every day in His presence, the ones to whom others have looked for help. Why? In order that we who witness the amazing power that sustains, strengthens, and radiates through them—may draw strength from them. Your circumstances do not have to be the final straw. Rather, they can be the finishing touch that work to make you complete in Him.Could you devise a more encouraging plan?______________________¹ Preston Gillham, Grace in Ungracious Places