How strong is your Faith? How deep is your Hope? Three weeks ago we read Laura’s story about Lung cancer and surrender. If you are looking for strength, or simply want to see it in action, read this update, directly from Laura:
1 Kings 18:41-45
And Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink, for there is a sound of the rushing of rain.” So Ahab went up to eat and to drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees. And he said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” And he went up and looked and said, “There is nothing.” And he said, “Go again”, seven times. And at the seventh time he said, “Behold, a little cloud like a man’s hand is rising from the sea.” And he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, Prepare your chariot and go down, lest the rain stop you.” And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain.
This morning I am in Nashville preparing to go downtown and receive my first TDM-1 infusion. I am filled with mixed emotions. At 10:45 I will receive a drug I did not seek because I did not even know about it; in a hospital that I did not know existed; from a doctor that I had never heard of until two or three weeks ago. It is extremely evident to me that the Lord has brought me to this place. I have no doubt that this is the Lord’s plan for me. And so the verse that keeps running through my head is Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
And yet, part of me enters into this new phase of treatment with a guarded heart. I have been seeking God’s mercy for healing for over three years now and thus far His answer has always been, “Not yet.” And that’s what reminded me of the passage from 1 Kings above.
This passage does not tell us much about the servant, but I feel like I can relate to him. If he was Elijah’s servant, he had seen first hand the greatness of the Lord. There was no doubt in his mind that Elijah was God’s prophet. I am sure he trusted Elijah. He probably found joy in obeying Elijah. But don’t you know that on that sixth time of going up the mountain and looking toward the sea that the servant had to be getting a little tired? I am sure he was frustrated. I am sure he was starting to doubt. I am sure he was wondering why Elijah’s timing was so off. It is easy to become tired and frustrated when you are continually looking for something that you cannot find.
But then, on the seventh time, when the servant climbed to the top of the mountain, there it was. Not a storm. Not great darkness. Not a multitude of clouds. No lightening. No thunder. Just a little could the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea. And from that tiny cloud came great rain.
Today, in this treatment, by God’s grace, I see a little cloud the size of a man’s hand rising from the sea. Please pray that God will choose to transform it into great rains of His mercy.
For His Glory,
Laura
So here’s my small challenge, “Can we take God’s Grace to work today, does it belong there?”
