pretty words

Sometimes there aren’t any pretty words to use to describe our lives. Our days are filled with heartache and pain. The lives we once dreamed of have never come to be. Every expectation we have had has gone unmet. Troubling times rob us of the joy that is offered. And, death and disease deflate our desire to live.

A little over two years ago, my mother was diagnosed with cancer. That was at the beginning of November. It seemed every time she met with a doctor, the prognosis was a little worse. Just before Thanksgiving she had surgery which revealed that the cancer had metastasized. And, when I was finally able to fly home at Christmas, she had already started chemo. The news of my mother’s cancer came just following a couple of devastating rejections in my life. So, when I stepped off the plane to find a tired and weak mother, she stepped up to find a tired and weak daughter.

I remember a couple significant conversations from those ten days that I spent with my parents. During one of them, my mother was commenting on my downcast spirit and said, “honey, life is too short.” There is something about my mother’s cancer that made her words credible and that kept the phrase ringing in my mind. I remember watching my mother with awe as hope seemed to drip from her. Rather than this dreadful disease stealing her life – as it had mine – it was as if she had been given a new one. During another conversation she told me that when she had been diagnosed with cancer, she and Dad were very depressed. Then one day, my father said to my mother, “you feel good today; let’s not waste it.” And, I began to understand that hope is not rooted in circumstances, but instead is rooted in the Lord. As my mother sought after the Lord, so He sought after her. And, in the midst of this, she realized that it is perhaps in hopeless times that we as followers of Christ have the most hope.

As we look at Isaiah 7, it is notable that a king named Ahaz is cowering because he believes that two kings from other lands will demolish his kingdom. But, instead, the Lord speaks through His servant Isaiah to say “No! A child will be born to a virgin. And, we will call Him Immanuel. And, before He is full grown these two nations that you fear will be destroyed.” In the midst of a hopeless situation, the Lord breathes in tremendous hope. Isaiah reminds King Ahaz that hope is not found in his valiant army or any other circumstance, but instead that hope is rooted in the Lord.

No, sometimes there are no pretty words to describe our lives. Our days are filled with heartache and pain. The lives we once dreamed of have never come to be. Every expectation we have had has gone unmet. But, these troubling times need not rob us of the joy that is offered. Death and disease need not deflate our desire to live. Because our hope is not rooted in our circumstances, but instead, rooted in the Lord. And, this Lord that we call Immanuel has promised that we will be healed, that we need not fear the enemy, and that we will know peace. And so, we hope with expectant hearts upon the Lord who has given us a sign.

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