OUR UNCHANGING HOPE
“I don’t know what to tell you, kids. There’s a lot of damage there.” The doctor hesitated, “She may have 5, 10 years at most.”
We tried to absorb the news about my 44-year-old mother-in-law Barb lying nearby. Tubes and staples ran through her chest, trying to mend a broken heart.
Fear gripped our own hearts that day, yet we dared to ask God for more time.
This past holiday, several decades’ worth of snow globes lined Barb’s Christmas shelves, ones that 8 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren will one day inherit. But after watching 81-year-old Grandma bustle around the kitchen, they know they will have to wait a while to take them home.
Barb’s grandson, Taeler, knows all about dire predictions, too.
When he was 8, the pediatric oncologist delivered similar news to his shell-shocked parents after reviewing the test results.
"The cancer’s returned,” the doctor revealed, then reluctantly administered the final blow to their hope. “But his system can’t take anymore chemo.”
When Taeler's mom Mary called to tell us, our agony drowned out any conversation; yet somehow, we were able to form the one-word prayer that could pierce such darkness, "Jesus."
And for 21 years now, Taeler has been the first one up every Christmas morning, waiting to unwrap the gift of another year.
Barb and Taeler both know firsthand that even when the world shouts, “All is lost!” the Heavenly Father shows up in unexpected and sometimes extravagant ways.
Even with every chip down, bottom scraped, and gavel pounded, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to us, speaking life over the graves dug for our souls long ago.
So as we stand at the threshold of another year, let us remember what God has done and take heart for the future. Because though the calendar changes, our faithful Lord and Savior never will.
Yes, no matter what comes, His Grace will stand guard over us from our first cry on this earth to our last.
He has promised to be with us.
He has promised to see us safely Home.
"Don’t be afraid, for the Lord will go before you and will be with you;
He will not fail nor forsake you.”
Deuteronomy 31:8 TLB