(Photo by OceanRudy from Flickr)
I have prayed boldly for them both...with as much faith as I can muster. I have prayed, without hesitation or embarrassment, for the healing of their bodies. "He" tells me this week that the remaining spot is so small that the Doctor suggests no surgical biopsy, to remove his port, and to forget about the stem cell transplant. "We'll just watch it", he says. "She", on the other hand, might not live any longer than the time it takes me to write this post.
I encounter it all the time.
The fact is...we pray. We pray a lot. We try to believe what the bible says about prayer. We try to do it right. We pray with faith and humility and thanksgiving. We pray, "if it be Your will." We pray in Jesus' name. But...at the end of the day...WE WANT OUR PRAYERS ANSWERED!
A few years ago, my family vacationed at the coast. I was on the beach with Katie...not much more than a toddler at the time. As we played in the surf, she grew braver and braver and began to venture further and further out into the water. The current was fairly strong and the tide was going out. All at once, she realized that her little feet could no longer feel the bottom. The water was over her head. Her eyes grew wide with fear and panic. She called out to me, "Daddy! Daddy!" I moved over to her...the water was not over my head. Neither the current nor the tide were too strong for me. She flung her arms around my neck. I could feel her little body tremble. In a while, however, her fear subsided and the panic left her.
What Katie didn't know was that her circumstances had not changed. I did not alter the depth of the ocean. The water was still over her head. I did not weaken the current or reverse the tide. The only difference was that she had my neck to throw her arms around.
We pray. We pray a lot. We come, at times, with fear and panic and worry. We tremble. We cry out, "Father! Father!" Our circumstances may not change, but in our need we find the neck of God to throw our arms around.
Perhaps, THAT is answered prayer.
In fact, given that it's the God of the universe we're holding on to (or who is holding on to us)...perhaps it's the ultimate answer. I mean...really...what more could we ask for?
3 comments:
I love reading all these! They keep me so interested and thirsty for my faith. You're so awesome, Mr. White!
Love,
Mary London
Thanks Mel! You are so kind.
Dave, you bring to mind a similar story with my daughter...
While swimming in a huge resevoir in Virginia, she too liked to venture out "over her head" where the big kids were playing. She could swim well enough, but preferred to be attended to as long as she couldn't "touch". Of course, I was happy to hold her when she got tired or needed some support. But, I remember getting annoyed, almost angry, when she didn't always trust me for her safe-keeping and constantly called out for my attention.
Finally, after letting out a high-pitch scream that ultimately only dogs could hear, I scolded her saying: "Rebecca, don't you know how much I love you and care for your well-being? Don't you think I know your ablilities and limitations? Do you actually believe that I would let harm come to you?" Don't you know that I would (and could) swim to the other side of this lake and back to save you?"
In that moment, I realized how passionately an imperfect earthly father could feel about his child...and, wondered how a divine heavenly Father might feel about His own.
Your brother,
Eddie Bugg
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