Yesterday I received an urgent 911 from my friend Angela asking me to get everyone praying for her four-year old daughter who was on the way to the hospital having seizures. We gathered together for prayer in the House of Prayer and throughout the day she was lifted up. There has not been any explanation as to why yet, and she is still in hospital Getting testing. As I sat once again in a hospital waiting room, listening to the talk of the family, the prayers of the pastor, and then seeing her laying there, so small and still in that hospital bed, it just brings a certain amount of gravity, sobriety, and reality to the fragility of life. When she started the day, kissing her daddy goodbye and asking for cereal, no one would have imaged that hours later she would be experiencing a severe seizure that would threaten her little life. And times like these we cling to faith.
I talked to Roger, her dad, and he said it is the hardest thing you can imagine because there you are, watching your little girl shake and there is nothing at all you can do to fix it. And that’s what we want to do… Fix it. But when we have no explanation or solution and have to rely solely on the the faith and our belief that there is Someone who is bigger than us, who is wiser than us and who has so much love for us. And then we want God to wave his magic wand like a wizard in the movies and make it all better, but he doesn’t always work like that. There’s a song by Casting Crowns that’s about praising God even in those storms of life when we can’t figure it all out. It ends with the words of a Psalm, my help comes from the Lord, maker of heaven and earth.
I was sure by now
God You would have reached down
And wiped our tears away
Stepped in and saved the day
But once again, I say “Amen”, and it’s still raining
As the thunder rolls
I barely hear Your whisper through the rain
“I’m with you”
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away
And I’ll praise You in this storm
And I will lift my hands
For You are who You are
No matter where I am
And every tear I’ve cried
You hold in Your hand
You never left my side
And though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm
I remember when
I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to you
And you raised me up again
My strength is almost gone
How can I carry on
If I can’t find You
But as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain
“I’m with you”
And as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
And takes away
I lift my eyes unto the hills
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord
The Maker of Heaven and Earth