I scroll through the tiny font on my cell phone screen.
A text message from someone informs me:
Wife’s biopsy came back positive. Surgery scheduled.
Please pray.
Another week, different text message from someone else.
Daughter grieving. Marriage in jeopardy.
Please pray.
People’s problems edited and shrink-wrapped into a few words.
Their unspoken fears and heartache fill the white space….travel through cell phone towers, reach my unsuspecting eyes,
Entreating me to pray, trusting me to love them enough to remember them in prayer.
I fumble for encouraging words, but the best thing I can send them when I hit reply is a promise to pray.
And then stay true to my word.
Praying scripture for them, takes the burden off of me to know how to pray.
Praying scripture gives me an eternal perspective, keeps me aligned to God’s ultimate will for our lives.
Praying scripture WITH them over the phone or in person keeps our eyes on Jesus when the enemy whispers, “You’re all alone.
“Curse God and die!”
In the book, His Thoughts Said…His Father Said….
Missionary Amy Carmichael shares human thoughts that invite discouragement, doubt, and fear, but then she provides a godly response that dispels these false notions.
In this particular excerpt, the ill person or caregiver is encouraged to look for the daily blessing, however small, and see it as a gift from God even in this…..I hope the words in Carmichael’ls book, blesses others.
Not Even a Cup of Tea
The son said, “My heart is disquieted within me. My soul cleaveth to the dust. Out of the depths, I have cried to Thee, O God.”
His Father said, “In My hands are the deep places of the earth. Is there no blue sky? Have the roses forgotten how to bloom? Have birds ceased to sing among the branches? Hast thou not the sweetness of the love of a single little child? Hast thou no pleasant food–not even a cup of tea? Have tears been thy meal day and night?
Gather up thy comforts, the greatest, the smallest, and thou will be surprised that thou has so many to gather.”
Even In This 