State Your Case

Well, I had another one of “those” weekends!  Saturday started out with a bang as my wife had another seizure just before I got her up for the day.  I wasn’t going to call 911 as everything look like past incidents until she started spitting up some blood.  I have to confess, that my usually solid and calm demeanor went out the window on that one and I grabbed the phone and made the emergency call.  When the paramedics arrived they let me know that the blood was just the aftereffects of a split lip!  That good report helped to get me back in the saddle again.  It was also interesting to note that I knew the fire crew and the ambulance team from past calls.  It was like we were old friends responding to help each other!

Once I got to the hospital, I was beat!  After reporting in, I dragged myself into the emergency waiting room while they prepped my wife.  As I walked in, I tiredly smiled to a couple of older ladies who were also waiting there.  After sitting heavily in the chair with an audible sigh, one of the women turned to me with a compassionate smile and said, “just what you need on a Saturday, right?”  Her words helped me to straighten up and get my shield of faith back into its proper position.  After a few quick moments they called me in and I was able to return the encouragement to the woman who had spoken to me as I walked past her.

Saturday and Sunday were just long days to me.  My wife was very weak and needed a lot of physical attention.  I also found myself being very sensitive to her every movement and sound.  This has happened after each of her seizures, but this weekend seemed even worse.  It was like my whole being became an antenna ready to receive notice of something wrong so I could instantly jump to her assistance!

This morning I was still listening for anything unusual as I went into my study before she woke up, so that I could spend time in the Word.  Once I sat down and began to read from Hebrews chapter eleven, the Lord began to remind me of all the little blessings and confirmations of His faithfulness that He had sent to me over the weekend.  That brought a calming attitude of peace into the room and helped me to remember that even in the midst of alarming situations that He is still in charge!

I had also been praying a lot for physical and emotional strength over the weekend and as I delved deeper into the chapter my faith was renewed again and I could feel strength being pumped into my very being!  Then I came to Hebrews 11:11 and read, “Through faith did Sarah herself also receive bodily power for the conception of seed, even when past the age of maternity, simply because she felt that He who had given the promise was true and faithful.  (S. Way)  I have always been amazed at Sarah’s faith, but today it seemed even more significant to me.  Here was an older woman (kind of like the lady who spoke to me in the emergency waiting room) whose first reaction was to laugh at the audacity of the angel who she heard telling Abraham that she would have a child in her advanced age.  (See: Genesis 18:13)  But then something changed inside of her and she was able to simply believe and eventually see the answer to God’s promise.

Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible says when talking about Sarah that “Even her strong incredulity (ie; refusal to believe) was overcome, and although everything seemed to render what was announced impossible, and though she was so much disposed to laugh at the very suggestion at first, yet her unbelief was overcome, and she ultimately credited the divine promise.”  I think that Sarah must have just come to the place in the face of what looked like total impossibility, and said: “What the heck!  If I believe I’ve got nothing to lose and all to gain!”  And she threw in her faith with her husband’s!

That’s sort of the same place that I came to this morning that finally helped me to calm down, feel stronger and see the light!  My wife and I have come this far and I am not about to give up now!  God is faithful to His promises and I choose to keep on believing!  The Word says that Sarah believed “simply because she felt that He who had given the promise was true and faithful.”  It is as easy as that.  Like Sarah I don’t have to try and figure out everything that seems to be happening or not happening!  I do not need to take into account how increasingly serious things may look, but to simply trust in the ONE who cannot lie. 

That’s it for me!  The case is settled.  How about you today?  Are you still deliberating about the outcome of a promise that God has given you in His Word?  I would encourage you to have the simple faith of an old woman and see the answer that you are standing in faith for.  Have a great day.  Stay in tune to His Word, and keep asking yourself… “What GOOD REPORTS am I expecting today?”