From Suffering to Glory

I was reading Comforts from the Cross by Elyse Fitzpatrick on her thoughts on Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.  She tackled that difficult question:  "If God loves us, and we believe that he does, then why doesn't he use his power to prevent suffering?"

Take as an example Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.  Mary & Martha sent Jesus a message that Lazarus was ill.  The passage says that Jesus loved Lazarus but he stayed 2 more days before setting out for the home of his friends.  It's easy to think that we know what would best bring glory to God.  "When it's my pain or loss, I think that God's glory would be seen most clearly in my immediate deliverance...but Jesus is more interested in our eternal cure than he is in our temporal relief." 

The author goes on to say that "Jesus is not a genie in a bottle nor is he a heartless despot.  He is [my] compassionate Savior."  Jesus knew he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead, but still he wept.  He is not indifferent to our pain.  And he told Mary & Martha that "if [they] believed, [they] would see the glory of God."

So in our trial, how do we see the glory of God?  We have the promise of eternal glory where we will be free from all pain and illness and everything bad.  But even here and now, we experience a taste of glory by his comfort, grace, strength that he freely pours out on us. 

I saw this in a wonderful way on Sunday.  While we were in Hawaii, a man in our church was discovered to have a brain tumor.  We knew there was that possibility before we left, but while we were gone, we heard that he became very ill very quickly and died.  We spoke to his widow on Sunday and were blessed by her conversation with us.  She had tears as she spoke, but at the same time she was radiant as she talked about how God was comforting her and meeting her needs.

And we experience the same thing.  God does indeed give grace to help in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16).  I am continually amazed at how much joy I feel and the hope I have in spite of our difficult situation.

It seems that Andy has stabilized.  He seems to have more physical stamina and is also feeling better emotionally.  His doctors have advised him to try to be diligent with exercise, rest and a minimum of stress.  And that advice seems to be working.  He is still forgetful and easily confused, but feels better.  His tremors are less pronounced when he is exercising regularly.  These are encouraging signs.

These last few days have been busy with family.  Asher's 6th birthday was last Friday.  Earlier that week, we thought Dawn might be having her baby, so I told her I'd pick Kira up on Friday after work and take her with us to celebrate Asher's birthday.  The baby was not born when we thought (and still has not made her entrance into the world), but we still took Kira with us so she could have a little time with her cousins and Dawn could have a break.  We had a good time with the family.  Christy is such a good cook and made pizza, plus a New York style cheesecake with strawberries and blueberries for the topping.  We had so much fun being there, but when I told Kira it was time to go, she was very unhappy. 

Even though Kira was unhappy, she has a sensitive conscience.  On the way home, she told us she was sorry.  I probed and asked what she was sorry for, and she said "for not wanting to go home."  I again played "devil's advocate" by saying, "well, Kira, I really didn't want to leave  either."  But she persisted in following through with her confession, saying, "But Grammy, please forgive me.  I'm sorry."  Andy and I were very touched and thrilled to experience her sensitivity to her sin.

Amy & Ricky came down on Sunday with their kids to attend church with us.  Then they came home and had lunch with us, too.  Amy brought a big pot of soup with some rolls.  Dawn, Tommy & Kira came over to spend some time together, as well.  The kids have such a good time playing together.

Monday was Dawn's birthday and she had contractions in the morning, which made her think she was going to have the baby that day.  That would have been exciting because it was her birthday, as well as her due date.  She had told me that only 5% of babies are born on their due date.  She probably would have upped that percentage if this baby had been born on Monday because Kira was actually born on her due date.  But it was not to be.

Dawn still hasn't had her baby, so I invited her over for dinner on Tuesday.  Tommy was working late and unable to join us.  I made her favorite dinner that I only make once a year - just for her.  So that cheered her up.

As much as the family has been together in the last couple of days, I have no pictures to prove it.  I just didn't think of taking pictures until everyone was gone.  Well, the memories live on in our hearts.