Anywho, the reason I mentioned that is because last night I was thinking of Hopie just before heading to bed. As I went to take my last swig of water before heading upstairs, my gaze fell on a magnet on the corner of my fridge. And I think my eyes probably tripled in size.
It's a magnet I had made at an Uppercase Living party several months ago, just a simple light blue rectangular shape with white polka dotted swirls on it....and the word "Hope". I would have gasped, but then I would have choked, thus making the moment far more dramatic than it needed to be! But it meant so much to me...to realize that the Lord prompted me to choose the word "Hope" out of the collection of other words -- I could have done "love" or "peace" or any other such thing...but I chose Hope. Coincidence? I think not. Looking back, I'm fairly certain I chose that word because of my battle with infertility and hoping so fiercely that the Lord would bless us that month...or maybe the next...or the next...never knowing that "Hope" would carry so much meaning for me later on. I love how the Lord works!
And that's not all...
Once I got upstairs, I was reading my Bible before going to sleep, and was reading Isaiah 25, one of the chapters required for our Bible Study this week.
Now, before I go on, let me mention that I do know the importance of "good hermeneutics"...but I also believe that sometimes the Lord can use passages of Scripture outside of the context it's in to speak to a person individually. Now I'll explain what I mean...
Back to Isaiah 25 -- the first 2 verses speak of praising God because,
"You have worked wonders, plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness. For You have made a city into a heap, a fortified city into a ruin..."I couldn't help but think of the journey we've been on -- attempting to start a family for a year and a half, the joy and miracle of finding out we were pregnant, and then the overwhelming sorrow of miscarrying. I thought of infertility and miscarriage and how you feel ruined when it's all over. However, each of those events were part of God's plan of perfect faithfulness. Not that God wanted our baby to die or wanted us to go through the tears and searing pain of grief after the agony of waiting so long for a child...but He has seen the end from the beginning, and every step has been an opportunity for Him to show us His perfect faithfulness.
As I read on, I came across verse 8,
"He will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces..."Thank you Lord that a Day is coming when tears and grief won't be a part of life anymore!
"O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" (I Cor. 15:55)
By this point, I was grinning at how the Lord had spoken to my heart and encouraged me - and yet I kept thinking of how I want to be more bold about our whole experience. I believe that the Lord can really use our story to encourage the hearts of others and also demonstrate His unfailing grace and faithfulness towards us as we cling to Him.
Which brings me to my last thought -- as hermeneutically incorrect as it may be...
As I concluded my Bible reading in II Cor 3 (by the way -- for any of you going through a particularly rough time, I have found II Corinthians to be soooo encouraging and helpful, especially the first 4 chapters. They have sustained me through many "valleys" from high school until now), I was struck by verse 12,
"Therefore, having such a hope, we use great boldness in our speech"Dude...was God listening to my thoughts just then or what?? I want to use the experience of losing my baby....who "just happened" to be named Hope...as a way to be more bold for the Lord. EXACTLY what vs 8 was saying...in a paraphrased Liz-version.
God Rocks. There's just no way around it.
5 comments:
I just love you. seriously.
and I love how God works. It makes me smile.
2 Cor was ironically (or not so ironically) the study we did in our care group last fall. Awesome truths there. They have carried me through many a day. :)
praying for you, my dear, dear friend.
Wow, that is such a neat story.
Thank you for sharing all that the Lord is teaching you.
Love you and praying for you and Joe.
The Lord has given you a great faith. I am amazed at His goodness in the midst of trial and sorrow.
I love you so much,
Mom
Oh Elizabeth, your faith and your maturity both amaze me and make me smile at the same time. God is writing a masterpiece in your lives! He is Faithful!
Love,
dad
Very sweet story - and I absolutely agree that God uses Scripture to mean things for our lives that perhaps weren't originally meant. Thanks for pointing me towards Isaiah 25; that was really encouraging for me, too.
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