Igniting Hope

As my broken body and mind sat at the feet of the Savior that day I saw before me a huge football field full of deep, sticky mud. I was in up to my neck crying out for help. I sensed Jesus saying, “I will never leave or forsake you but I will not take you out of it either. I will walk with you in the mud and you will know Me.” In my picture, I saw Jesus in the swamp with me. Around me, clusters of flowers bloomed out of the mud throughout the field–places of beauty in the midst of my pain.

My present and my future rest in a God who hung the stars in place, who spoke the world into being, who keeps it twirling on its axis. He watches over the sparrows, He numbers our hairs, He went to a cross and rose from the grave. He is above all rule and authority, and He is over everything (Ephesians 1:18-20). I can, therefore, be still and cease trying to use my knowledge of the situation to act as a shield from pain.

The Father is inviting you to bring your life, your story, to Him and wait in silence for Him. He knows it’s useless to hope that one day you’ll wake up and have forgotten the past; He knows it’s useless to hope that one day you’ll wake up and your abuser will suddenly take responsibility and be sorry for their behavior; and He knows it’s useless to hope that one day you’ll wake up and it just won’t matter anymore. He knows all that already. But he also knows you, and He offers you the hope of belonging.

I’ve seen pictures of actual tear-catchers, these tiny ancient flasks that mourning families would use to catch their tears on the way to the cemetery in order to prove how much they loved the deceased. But God takes this picture a step further and says that He will catch our tears … and for Him to catch them He has to be close to our eyes. He walks with us in our sorrow in order to engage with our pain.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.... And now these...

I have always loved plants and flowers but have an infamous reputation for being a killer of anything green. I’ve heard my kids warn the new plant I would bring into the house by whispering, “Your days are numbered, my friend. She’s got you now.”