We received a card yesterday from our pastor’s wife
that had this quote from Franklin Roosevelt on the front cove: “When you reach
the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.”
As friends and family join us on this roller
coaster of hope and disappointment, we receive words of encouragement, empathy,
and support with each announcement. “Think
positive!”, “Stay strong!”, “Don’t give up!”, and “It will all work out!”. But, when my heart was heaviest (last week)
these vain promises just pulled me deeper down.
I yielded to a desperation fueled by fear. I looked to my husband for strength, but he
was as angry and hopeless as I was. We
had lost sight of God. We were looking
to the process, the works of men, to logic, and to our own strength. And when
the devil had just about convinced us to walk away, we opened an email from my
newly saved sister-in-law. She did not
try to sympathize. She did not try to coax us in to a false hope. She did not
promise that it will all work out. She simple wrote:
"Wait on the Lord. Be of good courage. And He shall
strengthen thine heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord.” –Psalm 27:14
God is not One for subtlety.
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any
twoedged sword. It surely felt
like I had been struck as I read that verse over and over. “Wait on me” (not negotiable). “Be of good courage” (I know you’ve seen a
lot of disappointment- do it anyway). “I
will strengthen your heart” (That is a promise) “Wait, I say” (in case you
thought it was a suggestion) “ on Me”.
I felt the power in this verse. It was a command and we were to obey. But strangely,
I found peace in that. I said, “Yes,
Lord.” and hid it in my heart. My daughter and I quoted it daily, sometimes
hourly when needed over the next week. My husband and I sought council from
godly friends and family as we prayed for a renewed hope in this process. Right now, we’re living on faith. We have all
these empty beds and no prospects to fill them. We’re at the end of our rope. But, Psalm 27:14 is our knot. We have nothing else to cling to but the promise
of God, so we’re hanging on.
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