Good morning…
I have never met 37-year-old Elizabeth who is bravely battling colon cancer, but I absolutely love the way God’s Holy Spirit is pouring through her to saturate the hearts of many. This week in her powerful post Elizabeth wrote life-giving words.
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Don’t you love my seesaw illustration that I made on my phone? Messy touchscreen handwriting and all. My heart and mind recently have felt like they are on a seesaw teetering back and forth between hope and fear. There are days where the hope of Jesus has never felt more real, more powerful, more present in my heart. Other days the fear feels crippling, like a heavy weight that I just cannot shake. All of the scary “what ifs” swirl through my mind – What if the tumors aren’t shrinking? What if I don’t get to see my children grow into teenagers, young adults? Oh how I long to walk through each phase of their lives with them and alongside them. How I long to be wrinkled, old, and gray with my Graham. Something that has been sweet for my heart to remember is that when I feel hopeless, there are countless people praying on my behalf, hoping for me, when I feel like I cannot stand.
Today I was reminded of our hope of the new heavens and new earth – what lies beyond and after heaven. When the Lord will make all things new. If you’d like to listen to the sermon, you can find it here. Our world is broken. Things aren’t as they are meant to be. We live in between two advents – the birth of Jesus and his second coming when he will restore all things.
Revelation 21: 1-4. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away.
The thought of every tear wiped away makes my heart want to sing for joy. The tears that have streamed down my face over the last month cannot be measured or counted, and the very idea that my God would want to wipe every single one away is such a sweet picture of his love. Will I ever understand this side of heaven why I have cancer? Why my body has seemed to fail me? Why this is my story? No, I will never know the whys. What I do know is that God is with me, he has not forsaken me, and he will be with me and will make a way. I don’t know what that “way” will look like, but I can trust him to lead me through this valley. I don’t have to consume myself with the outcome. I just have to trust him to lead me through.
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Saturated with hope, our bold prayers continue to buoy this faithful family. Holy Spirit hope overflowing through Elizabeth reminds me of a powerful song of hope poured through the lips of Ginny Owens, a beautifully talented singer who is completely blind.
…Sue…
