Something to Hang Your Hat On

Do you believe that God truly speaks to you through the Bible? Is His a generic word for the ages or does He really use it to give us individual promises and hope to "hang our hats" on? I believe the latter.

I was encouraged by a friend to ask the Lord to give me a specific promise regarding the plans He has for Ben's situation. A promise I can bring before the Lord and remind Him of His word to me. (Reminding the Lord is scriptural--Is. 62: 6) I will tell you how His promise came to me the other day.

Thursday was a rough day in the hospital for Ben. The chemo brought on hiccups that were deep and painful, leaving Ben exhausted after when they finally stopped. Besides that, he had heartburn which probably would have been alleviated by sitting up, but that would start the hiccups again. It was a vicious cycle.

In the evening Ben asked Paul and I to pray for him, and then for me to read him some scripture. He was so tired out--I wasn't really sure he was awake as I read some of the Psalms that have meant so much to me through this time: Ps. 4, Ps. 18, Ps. 118... As I read through Ps. 118, verses 17 & 18 spoke to my heart. It is the kind of promise that any mother would want to cling to for her very ill son. "Lord, I don't just want to grab something out of your word and hang on to it presumptuously," was my thought. "If You don't bring it to pass, it will look badly..." The heart of that thought, however, was, "If You don't bring it to pass, I will look badly." That was not a humble thought! Am I willing to look foolish to others and cling to what I believe is God's promise to me? It's not the first time that He's asked one of His children to do that!

"I will not die, but live,
And tell of the works of the Lord.
The Lord has disciplined me severely,
But He has not given me over to death." Psalm 118: 17, 18

(I believe the explanation of the third line is found in Hebrews 12: 6-11, "For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives. It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then your are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.")

So, I will remind the Lord of His promise to me in Psalm 118, no matter what the days ahead look like. It may seem like foolishness (based on medical percentages), but nothing is too difficult for my God.

Jenifer