The Spirit of the sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners . . . Isaiah 61:1 (NIV)
So Mom is in a pretty bad place right now. She's struggling, she's suffering, she's ready to be done with life - at least this life. And it is so hard to watch her go through all of this. My prayers lately have been that God would take her quickly because I hate that she's hurting so much.
Today, as I was pondering these things, I came across the above verse. And I wondered to myself - Mom is brokenhearted, she is held captive by her sickness, she resides in a prison of pain, so what about her - why haven't any of these promises been fulfilled in her life? And I found my faith inclining towards doubt. I don't "see" God binding up my mother's broken heart, freeing her from captivity, or releasing her from darkness.
Why God, why becomes the prayer of my heart. I don't understand this and I just want it to stop - for her, for myself, for my family. But in the midst of all this pain, I remember something that Jesus once said. It's a kind of rallying cry for all of his saints.
In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33 NIV)
A big promise from a Man who knew struggle and suffering like no one else - who gave up his very life to bring an end to all of our struggles. But not yet . . . and that's the hard part isn't it. Waiting in faith to "see" this promise of captives being freed , prisoners being released, broken hearts being bound up. Yes, it all comes down to faith.
One of my favorite chapters of the Bible that addresses the faith that we must live by for now, the faith that helps us to "see" and believe what seems impossible is found in the book of Hebrews.
All these faithful ones died without receiving what God had promised them, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed the promises of God. (Hebrews 11:13 NIV)
Our ancestors of faith didn't see the fulfillment of these promises while they walked upon this earth. They struggled. They suffered. They hurt. But, they kept the faith, and today, we are called upon to do the same. Believe in what we can't see, believe that the impossible is possible for our God. Believe that God truly loves us, truly has our best interests at heart - even when it all seems like a fraud.
I like to call it seeing with the "eyes" of faith. The faith that is sure of what it hopes for, certain of what it doesn't see. Life is a struggle, there's no question about it. But in the midst of our struggles let us keep our eyes of faith wide open. And when everything around is obscured by darkness, let us look to the Light of the World and press on to keep the faith.
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