The Promise of His Presence

There are very few things that would bring me back to the States unexpectantly, but one of those is the birth of my friend's twin babies.  Unfortunately, I flew back not to congratulate her, but to console her because at 22 weeks of pregnancy, she had to deliver her darling little babies who did not survive.  My dad was so kind to buy a ticket for me to come back.  Just to have time with Kristen and to be with her.

I finally got to see and speak to her yesterday for the first time since her miscarriage earlier this month (She had gone out of town with her husband for a few days to get away).  Until yesterday, we had only been e-mailing and texting a little bit and I was getting my information from a friend.  Kristen wanted to share her story so I just listened.  She showed me a picture of her little babies who lived for an hour or two.  When she finished the account, she asked me for some words of wisdom.  I was speechless.  I told her that I had thought of many things to say to comfort her, but that I had forgotten them all because I was just blessed by her composure.  She's the one who ministered to me!  The way that she and her husband are handling this is amazing and the only answer is God.  And she knows that.

Kristen didn't really cry yesterday because she was all out of tears.  She only cried a little when she saw me crying for her.  I saw her on auto-pilot yesterday, tired from sleepless nights of pain and heartache, and not believing that this is real.  I also saw a great strength in her that is only revealed in us when difficult times like this arise.  In our weakness is when God shows up and takes over and we can see Him handling everything.  I could easily understand how a person could lose her faith over this or how a couple could drift apart or even get a divorce over this, but not Chris and Kristen.  They display God's peace that passes understanding that He promised us.  They have grown stronger as a couple because of this.  They could have chosen to distance themselves from God and from each other because they don't understand why this happened, but they are trusting in God and have faith in Him.  They choose to believe that He loves them so much and is saddened by this tragedy too.  They know that His plan is greater and that He is in control.

Yesterday's sermon at church was excellent and God spoke to my heart about my friend's situation (and all of us when we go through hard times).
Here are the highlights:

• We move into the direction of the promises we choose to believe.

• God cannot love us more or less because God loves regardless.  (He is the definition of love.)

• Peace comes not by resolving the problems of the present, but by trusting in the promise of His presence.

With the last bullet point, we can choose to focus on the problems of the present or experience the promise of His presence.  Jesus assured us that we will have problems - not maybe, nor possibly, nor perhaps, but we will - because we live in an imperfect world with sin.  But that's not where the story ends.  We will have problems, but Jesus has overcome the world and we can rest in the promise of His presence. 

They are optimistic and want to try again this summer; I was gladdened by this news.  Please pray for Chris and Kristen who feel God's peace, but need healing for their broken hearts.  They say that "time heals all wounds", but it doesn't.  God heals all wounds and He will heal theirs.