Category: Growing through pain

THE ABSENCE OF SHORT CUTS

The long way is often better

My husband and I have 2 divergent styles of driving the car.  He likes to meander off the beaten path and enjoy the scenery. For him, “short-cut” means “long-cut.”  My approach to driving is navigating as efficiently and fast as possible. It is a running joke in our household that the fastest route is always with Mom at the wheel.

THE “LONG-CUTS”

Too bad that my style of navigation isn’t God’s style.  God’s life map often includes the “long-cuts.” He does not consult my plans entailing a delightful marriage to a minister with an adoring congregation. Included in the picture is motherhood to at least four loving children and an eventual abundance of grandchildren. Our real estate is a unique beautiful brick house. Along the way, I was to develop as a well-respected teacher. Yep, that was my life map. Well, I got the first plan right:  marriage to a minister.

OUR DETOURS

The off-road detours were not part of my plan:  losing loved friends to terminal diseases, upending our lives and moving 14 times in our marriage, coping with years of strain of unemployment and financial stress, not having any daughters to go shopping with, and saying goodbye to career dreams.  The detour list goes on and on. God does not often match His GPS with mine.

THOSE WHO POINT TO JESUS

We sometimes feel like lost travelers who long for the route in which everything makes sense. Intermittently we find solace in fellow travelers who have navigated the same backroads; those who have not cursed God in the process. The blessings are the travelers who share the pain and point to Jesus.

THOSE SEASONS OF LIGHT

And yet, there are those seasons of light. The times when I had the privilege of directing children’s performances and realized that without God, none of this astoundingly joyous moment would have been possible. The occasions when I share the bottomless truth of God’s Word with a friend and finally see the “aha!” light blink in their eyes. God rides to the rescue in ways I never imagine. Indeed, God shines His light, but seldom when I claim the sole right to turn on the light.

NOT THE NAVIGATOR

I am not the navigator in the pilot seat, but part of the obedient crew in the back of the plane. I am the adventurer of Hebrews 11 who identifies with Abraham, who “was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.” God calls us to be explorers who look and long “for a better country – a heavenly one.” 

God may direct my path through the mud, the weeds or choose the well-maintained highway, but point A rarely goes directly and easily to point B. All He asks is that I obediently stay on His path and look at the delightful scenery He places along the way. Lord, help us to trust, even in the “long-cuts.”

Click and listen to the story of Andy & Jamie Stewart

THE HEALING ROOM

The patient is not afraid. It’s operation time. He is healing her. It is good

Nestled in the arms of the recliner.  Legs outstretched in front; body tilted back. She can see laid out to the left of her chair are the doctor’s tools. Some of the instruments are rather sharp, even fearsome, but the patient is not afraid. It’s operation time. He is healing her. It is good.

The Doctor’s favorite scalpel is a battered and marked up Bible.  The patient spends a lot of time with this book; writing notes upon notes in the margins regarding things he points out to her during their sessions. Sometimes she takes the words and comments to heart; other times they get filed away until her wounds break open yet again. The Doctor remarks his patient is rather hard of hearing during some of their consultations. Maybe she also needs hearing aids?

The therapies are not convenient and often not comfortable. Keeping further infections at bay is critical. But healing comes from brokenness. This Surgeon will not turn her away, regardless of her illness. She can be made whole.

This operating room is sacred space. It is here, in the quiet, that God pulls her out of herself, away from her own worries and upheavals and into the Universe where He rules. She needs clarity, especially on those days when she wanders through His Book and it seems as dry as dirt (often a match for her own soul). His plans are far greater than her short attention span can fathom. Her home remedies are futile.

Just a warning, God’s work while she’s in the chair can be painful. There are numerous times when God has told her in no uncertain terms to repent, to eat humble pie, and to let go of prized projects. He nudges her to remember that He alone is the expert with the scalpel, not her. “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.” (Hebrews 4:12)

Despite the pain, this is the one place in the world where she knows she is guarded, protected and secure. Healing is possible. “Whoever dwells in the recliner of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.’” (Psalm 91:1-2) In this space, she is consistently, heard, valued, and loved. She is safe in the Surgeon’s arms.

For suggested additional spiritual healing, try Sharon Garlough Brown’s book “Sensible Shoes”