These past several months I often find myself quoting or speaking about Jeremiah 29:11. I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, Plans to prosper you and not to hurt you, to give you a hope and a future. For several days now our team has been following the story of a young girl here in Suryapet. Today as I reread my notes about getting to meet her with the intention of writing a blog about it God convicted me of not really believing what is generally my favourite verse to preach.
First I want to tell you the story from my notes, then I want to tell you what God just taught me.
…We went to a clinic to visit a girl we’ve been hearing about for several days now. I say girl because that’s what she is, a 14 year old girl with a 28 year old husband. We were first asked to pray because she had just reached month 8 in her pregnancy and the baby had stopped moving. A doctor ran tests on her and told her the baby was dead. She and her husband chose to get a second opinion and discovered that the baby was still alive but there were severe complications and it was necessary to deliver the baby immediately. They sent her into surgery and the baby was delivered alive, however not long after birth the infant had died.
It’s difficult not to be angry with the situation. This girl was only 14. Marriages here are arranged and that in itself is not bad. But I’m 23 years old and I can’t imagine going through the pain of losing a child in that way; this girl was only 14. Arranged marriage is sometimes a way for poor families who simply cannot afford to take care of a daughter at home to ease some of their financial struggles. I understand that there are cultural differences and this is the way it has always been but at the same time this seemed like such a terrible waste.
We went to visit her after her surgery and were informed by her husband that she did not know the baby had died. For medical reasons, (they didn’t want her to become hysterical and tear out her stitches), she had been informed that the baby was alive in an incubator somewhere. She was heavily drugged but we held her hands and prayed for her comfort, that God would prepare her heart to recieve the news and that he would bring her peace. We also prayed against depression and despair, asking that God would heal all of her wounds, emotional, spiritual and physical.
Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God has good plans for us, that he wants to see us prosper and live well. Romans 8:28 takes that a step farther and says that “in all things God works for the good of those who love Him”. On that day and even up to this very moment I was stuck focusing on despair. I was not trying to see victory in her situation, I was not looking for the hand of God to make good what was intended for evil.
There is a lot of pain and heartache for that couple to walk through and in my western eyes it looks like foolishness but God can and will redeem this situation and make it beautiful. In Isaiah 61:3 God makes it clear that he is a good God who gives us beauty in the place of ashes and gladness for mourning.
The wisdom that I operate under says that the situation is a shame and sees little room for victory. Praise God that He doesn’t think the way that I do. Praise God that no matter what situation we find ourselves in we are never outside of the shadow of the cross. Our hope is secure. It’s not going anywhere. But that knowledge should also cause us to take a serious look at our attitudes and the way we look at the situations we find ourselves in.
Do we focus on hope and victory or do we only see despair? Do we complain and mourn our losses or do we look for God’s blessing and provision? The plans he has for us are good. If you’re still breathing then God is still holding out his hand to you waiting for you to surrender all of the hurt, the grief and the heartache you feel entitled to hold onto so that he can turn your ashes into the greatest beauty.
What are you focusing on? Victory or despair?
