Month: March 2023

“And I will lead the blind
 in a way that they know not,
in paths that they have not known
I will guide them.
I will turn the darkness before them into light,
the rough places into level ground.
These are the things I will do,
 and I will not forsake them.”

Isaiah 42:16 (RSV)

When I was eighteen, I donated a pint of blood in downtown Chicago one day. I took the El train there and afterward I climbed the stairs to catch the train to take me back home. When I reached the top of the stairs to the El train platform, it seemed that having one less pint of blood in my system, affected the blood flow to the visual parts of my brain. I didn’t pass out, but immediately lost all vision, and it was extremely frightening. I could hear the train coming, and though there were people all around me, I was completely blind, but too proud to ask anyone for help. I decided to feel my way blindly onto the train, hoping my vision would soon return. Thankfully, I walked into the train and not in front of it. I found a seat to sit down and in a few minutes my vision returned. It’s a brief physical example of being led in a path that I was too blind to see. By God’s grace I found my way through the door, and it seems like a metaphor of how God will guide us through unfamiliar paths when we feel blind or helpless. He may be guiding us in some path of our life that is beyond physical blindness. We have all travelled one path together where we felt blind in the past few years, having lived through a world wide pandemic. Most of us have never lived through anything like it, and in that sense we were all blind. Going through something new and unfamiliar is like walking blind. There is always a new fear that comes upon each of us at different times for different reasons. Whatever we fear, or whatever unfamiliar path we feel we are blindly walking on, this scriptural promise is for us. God is saying through this scripture “I will not forsake you, I will guide you and level out those rough places that you are walking through.” God has promised to guide us, light our path and turn the rough places into level ground. However frightening or unfamiliar it may feel, He is the light in our darkness and promised to never forsake us. Jesus, we trust in you to light the darkness, smooth out the rough paths where we walk, because we believe your promise to us through this scripture today. We can walk through everything with you at our side saying, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

(Matthew 28:20) 

“Uphold me according to thy promise, that I may live, and let me not be put to shame in my hope! Hold me up, that I may be safe
and have regard for thy statutes continually.”

Psalm 119:116-117

A newborn baby is carried out as the lone survivor of her family. A father continues to hold the hand of his deceased fifteen year old daughter. An entire family is rescued, and several survivor children are carried from the rubble.
These are the scenes and images shown on the nightly world news after the earthquake that killed thousands in Syria and Turkey. Images of loss and destruction are contrasted by images of miraculous saves, and grateful survivors. There are scenes of EMS workers holding up people of all ages, bringing them out of the ruins and into safety. It seems to fit what this scripture verse is saying, “Uphold me that I may live….” EMS workers labored tirelessly to uphold the survivors, so that they can live.
Scenes like this produce a dichotomy of emotions. There is sorrow at the scenes of wreckage and loss, yet gratitude for the lives saved against all odds. As we look at the images, we cannot help but feel sorrow and gratitude at the same time. Maybe the way to deal with extreme sorrow is to find gratitude in it. I remember feeling both extreme sorrow and extreme gratitude at the same time.

There was sorrow in watching a debilitating illness, that was taking my husband’s quality of life. The gratitude was for the constant help and support of friends, family, nurses and therapists. There were many small blessings that came in the form of small details. Finding caregivers who were reliable yet not from an agency, since agency caregivers would have cost twice the price. Nurses, respiratory and physical therapists frequented our house each week.
One day the physical therapist who was sent, was the mother of a boy who was on the youth golf league that my husband once taught. It may have appeared to be a coincidence but I believe it was a blessing sent from God. Gratitude is found in the small things. In whatever sorrow we experience in our lives, if we can find something to be grateful for, it gives us strength. In our gratitude, God upholds us.
The earthquake survivors were upheld physically and rescued to safety. Sometimes we are upheld emotionally through a small blessing or coincidence. In whatever we face, God is there to hold us up through our sorrow, our sickness and our struggles.
Lord, help us find the small things to be grateful for, which you send to uphold and strengthen our spirit.

“Blessed is the man who endures trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life which God has promised to those who love Him. “

James 1:12 (RSV)

Whatever version of the Bible is read, this scripture doesn’t change. It says there is a crown of life for believers who love God and keep their faith during the testing and trials of life. Bible scholars may have different understandings of what the crown implies, whether it’s a literal gold crown or a symbol of eternal happiness in heaven. Whatever it is, they do agree that it means persevering faith in tough times will be rewarded. God’s eye roams the earth, looking for those who love Him and continue trusting in Him during times of adversity. God doesn’t cause suffering, but He promises to be near to those who are going through it. (Psalm 34:18) 

Jesus spoke to the thief dying on the cross next to Him, assuring him that he would be in heaven. It proves that the mercy of God is available to anyone, even in those minutes before death. He is near to those in critical care units of hospitals in their last minutes of life. He is near to the one who is in a crisis in the waiting room, whose loved one is in surgery after a major trauma. He is near to the parent whose child lies terminally ill in the pediatric intensive care unit. Wherever a heart is breaking, God is near to that person in a unique and intimate way. 

He loves all people with the same unconditional, self giving love, but He also desires a relationship with each one of us. I always wonder what God is trying to say to someone during an intense trial in their life, after witnessing some very sad stories over the years, working in a hospital. 

If God were to speak personally to each one, today’s scripture gives us a clue of what He would say. 

He would tell them to keep their faith in Him, trust Him with all their heart, and that He is always there. 

A crown of life is in store for those who love God and persistently keep their faith in Him. We all need a faith that helps us face intense trials and sorrows head on, not a faith that escapes from it, or tries to explain it away. 

Christianity is the only answer for finding perseverance under trials. Eastern religions teach meditation to escape difficult realities, and they believe that bad karma causes the tragedies in life. Only the Christian faith teaches that God loves us and will work all things together for our good. We can find strength in suffering through faith in Christ. Jesus became a man, who suffered and died for us, and there is no human misery that He has not experienced Himself.

Peter, James, John and Paul all wrote something about crowns being given to reward those who are faithful until death. 

Today’s scripture can be summed up as follows: Those who love God, trust Him, and those who trust Him, continue to believe and obey even when life gets hard. In the end, persevering faith will be rewarded. We can do all things through Christ, knowing that He first loved us, and works all things together for our good. 

Lord, show us how we can love you more, and help us to persevere with enduring faith by uniting ourselves closer to you, through the trials and hardships of life. Amen

 

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