I wrote this post about a month ago – before the month of May came onto the scene. And y’all. Talk about eating my own words.A lot has been going on – relationally (I’ll tell you more later), physically (I tore my ACL and meniscus playing tennis on the 2nd and then had knee surgery on the 15th), emotionally (see the 2 previous reasons), financially (because bills and food), and spiritually (because big heaps of discouragement).
Today I remembered that this post was sitting quietly in “draft” format so I read it. And then after I cussed the me-from-last-month who only wanted to speak truth to the me-of-May, I remembered the hope. I remembered that if I knew all that my Father-God knew, I would have chosen this same month of May for myself. Lord, let hope arise.
I’m trying to get better about sharing the words of courage God graciously speaks. Life gets busy and it’s too easy to bury the words beneath all the things that “have to” get done.
But we’re all in this together. I need you to share the courage He gives you, and you need me to share the courage He gives me. It’s called the Body – the church. We’re not meant to run this race alone.
What if Discouragement is the Path to Hope
This morning I was reading 1 Samuel 1 and something hit me from that text that has never hit me before. (You can go read that first chapter really quickly if you want. I’ll wait right here.)
Here’s the thing that hit me. You ready for this one?
Hannah’s discouragement was part of the plan.
Before we get all, “God doesn’t cause bad stuff to happen. He’s God! He’s holy.” Yes, He is. He’s totally holy. He’s completely other-than. But we can probably all agree that His definition of ultimate good isn’t always our definition of ultimate good.
Consider a totally earthly, miniscule analogy. Exhibit A: I like Doritos. They taste “good.” But they ain’t gonna give this 40-ahem-something-year-old body what’s best. Therefore, even though I could quite possibly down an entire, Costco-sized bag, they aren’t good in the ultimate sense of good if I want to still fit into my jeans.
God does things similarly – or not really. His definition of good looks all the way into eternity. Which means that sometimes the things that don’t feel good are actually producing a greater good we can’t yet see.
Discouragement can Prepare us for His Plan
Back in 1 Samuel, if Hannah hadn’t arrived at the place of desperation described in chapter 1, would she have ever prayed like she prayed? Would she have ever vowed in complete desperation to give her child back to the Lord – a child that would become a prophet of God for the good of Israel?
I’m thinking no.
Y’all, that thought floored me. Because when you follow the line of reasoning, that means that the suffering she went through to reach that point of desperation was used/ordained/chosen by God in order to get her to the point of being willing to do what God had for her to do – give her first-born son back to God for a life of service to Him.
I’m way too whiny to embrace that truth sometimes. My life gets hard and all I want to do is complain. But what if what if the struggle or suffering we face is actually doing what God wants it to do. What if the suffering is taking us to a place of desperation so we can even have the perspective to pray for and be willing to follow God in whatever He has up ahead. A plan that could possibly affect not only our own lives but the lives of those around us in this world.
What if.
In love, God is always up to something more.
It doesn’t make the suffering less sucky. There are some major hard things we as humans face in this life. And God is so tender to our human pain. He understands and patiently ministers to us while we’re in the fog of despair – gently and faithfully and fatherly-like.
But maybe, remembering the bigger truths – like, in love, God is always up to something more than I can see – may possibly spark some hope. Because if God is actually good and doing good like He promised, even when life is far from what we dreamed, then there’s room for hope to rise up.
Post-script from the me-of-May. Y’all the pain of life is real. And when we’re in the midst of the desperation, it’s nearly impossible to see the goodness of God. That’s why we need one another.
We need to be honest about our soul struggles. We need to move past the Christian platitudes and be vulnerable. We have to move through the pain to reach the promises. Through it, not around it.
If you’re in a desperate place today, it’s you I’m praying for as I write these words. I ask that God would do what only He can do – make hope rise up within you.
