Joy comes in the Mourning: 2

As the curtain falls on 2016, I'm reposting three blogs that capture the journey my family began in February 2015 when we were told our grandson Braden was in the clutches of a dragon named Rhabdomyosarcoma. These three mark waypoints through the first 16 months of our suffering...his suffering. I reposted the first yesterday, December 29, 2016.

Blog #2 was originally posted on June 30, 2015, three hundred and sixty-three days before he "leveled-up" (Braden's description of dying in Christ).  That day we had reason to be optimistic--yet knowing that we were all (and we remain) in the hands of God who we trusted even if the healing didn't come.

Hoping these blogs help others who suffer; hoping they honor God, who remains a Strong Tower of hope and assurance as we lean hard into Him, working through our loss, pain and grief...

"'Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or imagine, according to the power that works within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.' Ephesians 3.20,21

This is a capstone of worship and benediction to Paul's prayer for the Ephesian Church in his letter to the same. The prayer, and this benediction, are perhaps my favorite text in the Newer Testament.

The optimist in me always sees the glass half-full. These words '...abundantly, beyond all that we ask or imagine...' always brought great joy to my heart as I contemplated--then experienced--God's blessing on His people, His provision on a just-in-time basis--rarely early but never late. But I've come to another perspective over the last few months about this promise in vv.20, 21.

Recently I've connected the dots in a different way; '...abundantly, beyond all that we ask or imagine...' can sometimes come to us through the portal of pain, suffering and loss. It isn't that I don't understand that God uses suffering in our lives. It isn't that I've never personally experienced that process. I'm 62 years old--who hasn't suffered in 62 years? God has always been a ROCK and walked though all the squasma with me. I simply have never connected THIS verse to THAT process.

Reflect on this with me for a moment--applying the text, '...abundantly, beyond anything we can ask or imagine,' to the crucible called suffering. This promise is a deep well of hope for those between a rock and a hard place. God wastes nothing that comes into our lives. I believe that most of what we suffer is simply the result of the ebb and flow of life impacted by a world wrecked by sin. Imagine (though the text says it's beyond our ability to imagine) God meeting us 'abundantly, beyond anything we can ask or imagine' in those hardest of hard life-loss moments--NOT removing the suffering or restoring the loss, but using it to transform us.

This--the hardest of hard-- is where I've lived since February 19, 2015 when we learned our grandson, Braden, had a very serious cancer. God has met me in this barren place... abundantly, beyond anything I could ask or imagine.

Braden is not cancer-free, and we have no guarantee, though his prognosis is good. The way to his current status has been difficult, he has suffered and lost too much. Yet, through it all, God has inhabited my fear, my anger and my tears. He has changed me, made me more dependent, forged a more profound faith in me; He has changed Braden. He has changed our family...abundantly, beyond anything we could ask or imagine.

I have witnessed abundance through Braden's parents--their resolve and leadership; through Braden's transformed adolescent attitude; through younger brother Kellen pitching in, doing all he can to bring comfort and ease the load. I have witnessed abundance through answered prayer. I have witnessed abundance through the hundreds of people who are investing there time, energy, love and faith in us--generously, constantly. I have witnessed His abundance in my 'dark night of the soul' moments...abundantly, beyond anything I could ask or imagine.

I know this: God is. God is acting. God is acting for us. God is acting for us abundantly beyond anything we can ask or imagine--in celebration and through suffering.

Loss isn't abandonment. It isn't the death of hope. It's an 'intersection' where one can step back and see life not just for what it isn't, but for what it is; it's at that place, in that moment, we see the goodness of God...abundantly, beyond anything we can ask or imagine.

Sometimes, joy comes in the MOURNING."



Live it well...bN tGit