Take Heart!

Great sonogram today! Saw the same amount of fluid and said Maggie looks happy! I can't tell you how thankful we are to God for this good news!

I am feeling a lot better today after having a good vent and a good cry yesterday. Our minister came by this week and had some encouraging words. One of the things he said was that I don't have to be a hero. He said it was ok to cry - I am suffering and don't need to try to hide it. So that was good to hear and I definitely took that to heart yesterday!

As we discussed with him the potential outcomes of this situation (and I was crying again, of course, cause it's just too much too think about) he said something else that really stuck. He said "You know, this is not how it is supposed to be." It was so good to hear that. In other words, we were not created to suffer. Maggie, along with everyone else, was created in God's perfect image to live an abundant, eternal, perfect life. But because sin came into this world and all the suffering that came with it ("the wages of sin is death" it says in Romans) things are not perfect, not as they should be.

So many of our young friends are suffering deeply right now. Friends who have lost children or spouses or who are suffering from horrible diseases. And I just want to throw my hands up in the air and say, "Lord, this is just not right!" And you know what His response is? He totally agrees! Just like he wept over the death of Lazarus, He weeps for us, too. That's why in the midst of our suffering we should remember why Jesus came to our messed up Earth 2,000 years ago: to make things right! Jesus tells us, "Take heart! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) With his life, death, and resurrection He overcame the grave so we wouldn't have to stay in ours. He tells Lazarus' sisters, "He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die" (John11:25-26).

It's hard for some to think that a loving God would let so much suffering to exist.i questioned that at one point in my life. But it's through my current sufferings that I see and feel His ultimate compassion even more. And I have been reminded that while this suffering is hard and awful, it is only temporary. This life is so short compared to eternity with Him, where there is no death, no suffering, no crying. As Paul says in Romans 8, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed in us." Amen!