Advent 2022 – Day 2
Monday, November 28th
When You Can’t Trace His Hand, Trust His Heart
By Sharon Rowlette / Season of life: Happily Retired Grandmother
Scripture
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and he helps me. My
heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him. ~ Psalm 28:8
The past few months have been an emotional rollercoaster for our family. After four decades of watching Multiple Sclerosis rob us of a beloved husband, father and grandfather, God called Esley home in June. Early on in his disease, I prayed and begged God for a miracle of healing. Instead, it seemed as if the very opposite was happening, and I questioned why this sad decline kept happening in such a cruel manner….so many questions and so many tears.
Grief from losing him stretched into years, even decades. The decline became rapid and I began to pray that God would just have mercy on him… If that meant taking Esley on to heaven for complete and ultimate healing, I was ok with it. I
trusted Him.
Those last three weeks of Esley’s life were spent in the hospital, much of that time in ICU. My prayer for God’s mercy became my plea to God. This wonderful man who I had loved, and who loved me so well, had been gone from us for a long time.
It just didn’t seem right that his earthly struggles should continue.
On that Sunday morning in June, God answered my prayers for Esley. I held his hand as Jesus took him, and he received that miracle of healing. I had prayed for this miracle for over forty years of our forty-eight year marriage.
God also gave me the incredible gift of peace that I had longed for during all those
years. All the questions didn’t matter anymore. Jesus had come and shown us his
infinite love and mercy; and, like the shepherds who experienced Jesus as a baby, I have joy in knowing that we have a Savior….and He loves us and gives us an eternal life in heaven where He is. And, I know that Esley is there waiting for me, standing on strong legs, with a clear mind that is rejoicing because of the Gift of our Savior.
Closing Prayer
Heavenly and Gracious Father, thank you for the PEACE and JOY that you give us, even when we can’t see your hand in our circumstances. We trust your heart. Give us the courage to spread JOY and to show the world your gift of a Savior.
Reflections
In what you have read, what stands out to you the most?
What is something you have wanted and/or prayed for from God?
How might you approach your situation with joy in the midst of waiting for God to answer in some way?
Lord God, may I “repeat the sounding joy” of who You are today!