Faith in Life's Darkest Storms

How do we respond to life's storms?

I've been thinking this week that while we may disdain a Prosperity Gospel in terms of monetary wealth, deep down many of us, especially here in the abundant land of the USA, hold on to a Prosperity Gospel in relation to the storms of our lives.

Because surely, if we are "Christian" enough, faithful enough, or strong enough, the unthinkable will not happen, or if it does, God will minimize any harm or heartache, right? (This erroneous belief has become a bit of a soapbox passion for me, as you may have read when I blogged in January about my 5 favorite words in the Bible and a life-changing book I read several years ago.)

I may be the only woman who was not familiar with Carol Kent, but I had not heard her testimony until Angela Hunt shared this video on her blog last week:




I can't even wrap my mind around such circumstances. And I found it interesting that the whole time I was watching, I realized I was waiting for the "deliverance." I thought that surely her son would have a lesser verdict, or a reduced sentence. After all, dynamic testimonies always have a dramatic miraculous element, right?! In her book When I Lay My Isaac Down: Unshakable Faith in Unthinkable Circumstances, Carol Kent addresses this in the chapter "But Where is the Lamb?," referring to God's provision of a ram in the thicket when he tested Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac. She writes:

The provision of a ram in the thicket seems to represent the answer to fervent prayers. . .or the predictable result of deep and abiding faith....But is true faith always dependent upon the provision of whatever the "lamb" represents to us? Is faith more powerful when the lamb appears - or can faith be even greater when the desired outcome doesn't happen?

As we lay our Isaac down without demanding that the thicket produce a ram, we will discover that our Jehovah-Jirah is the God who provides. He lays His heart over our heart and holds us tenderly, loving us as we trust Him for what we cannot see.

When a challenge rises up in our path, we who have had a long-term relationship with God may feel that our faith will surely conquer the challenge, even if we must wait and struggle for a while. but when we're confronted with an Isaac experience -- something far beyond where our faith has tread before -- we have the opportunity to learn what the essential nature of true Christian faith really is....I have found that the greatest power of faith lies not in how we think we might use it to conquer challenges we're sure a loving God would not put in our path, but in how we live -- with courage, passion, and purpose -- in the midst of unresolved, and sometimes immovable, obstacles.

I want that kind of faith. (I just don't want the opportunity to use it! LOL) And the result? There are many hard days still, her son remains in prison with requests for appeals and clemency denied. As Carol puts it, they remain "in the middle of our circumstances, which do not appear to be changing." There is no (earthly) "happily ever after" to their story. And yet their tears "are rebirthing faith, hope, and joy."

If Gene and I had never endured unthinkable circumstances, we might not have understood the pain of brokenness. If we had gotten our miracle easily and quickly, we wouldn't have experienced the needs of "the least of these" in our society. If there had been "a lamb in the thicket" for our family, we wouldn't have launched Speak Up for Hope. If life hadn't held unspeakable tragedy, we never would have been the recipients of such extravagant love.

O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast
And our eternal home.

Under the shadow of Thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone
And our defence is sure.

Before the hills in order stood
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting Thou art God
To endless years the same.

A thousand ages in Thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.

Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly, forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the opening day.

O God, our help in ages past
Our hope for years to come;
Be Thou our guard while troubles last
And our eternal home.

Carol Kent has written a follow-up book detailing more of their journey: A New Kind of Normal: Hope-Filled Choices When Life Turns Upside Down.