Spanish Blog: Prayer and Laser Vision

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When I was seventeen years old, and I had just graduated from high school,  my parents wanted to do something special for me to celebrate my graduation, and my mom had the idea of a day at the lake with a couple friends.  Here is what I wrote about the occasion in my journal:

 

June 25, 2004

Yesterday was my graduation party at the lake.  It was just Misty, Stephanie, Kelly, me, and our dads (just fathers and daughters).  It was really fun.  First of all it was great to see Misty.  That was the second time I’ve seen her since she came back from Venezuela.  At first I was going to invite more friends to come, but then I decided it would be more special with just Steph and Misty.  We’re really close friends…

          

         There were some really neat answers to prayer about the whole thing that made it a totally awesome day.  For several months my mom had been praying about what we should do to make my graduation special and she eventually thought of the father daughter idea - which turned out to be really great.  Then several days before we went, I was having my devotional and I prayed that God would make the weather really nice that day – or at least for most of the day so that we could have a good time.  I have been reading “Prayer: Asking and Receiving” by John R. Rice, which is really good.  It has really challenged me about praying in faith and believing that God delights to grant my requests.  So I prayed for good weather and for some reason I really had the confidence that God was going to grant my request.

 

         Now a couple of Sundays ago in my dad’s Sunday school class he was teaching about how if we ask God for something and He says yes, we shouldn’t pray for it again.  He gave an analogy that I thought was good.  If I was to ask my mom to do something for me tomorrow, and she said yes, I should take her word for it.  If I went back to her in an hour and asked again she would probably be a little annoyed because she already said yes.  If I then went back a third time, she might get frustrated with me.  If God gives me the faith to pray believing that He will grant what I ask, I should not ask again, but think of it as a closed matter.  If God says He is going to do something, He will.  I need not ask twice. 

 

         So anyway, God gave me faith to believe that He would grant my request, so I decided not to pray about it again, even though the trip was several days off.  Man that was hard.  I came so close to asking God again several times.  I’m so used to praying things over and over again.  I didn’t ask again, however, and yesterday when we went, the weather was perfect.  It was sunny for most of the day and just cloudy towards the end.  It was just slightly warm and the water was wonderful.  I couldn’t have asked for a better day.  God is so good!

 

         That was an awesome answer to prayer, but God did an even greater miracle while we were there.  That’s the way I have come to see answers to prayer like that.  Some people say that God doesn’t choose to do miracles now like He did in Bible times, but after yesterday I have no doubt that God has not changed at all.  We simply don’t have the faith.  I think if people would expect things like what happened in Bible times, it would happen and maybe even to a greater extent.  In one of the gospels (I don’t remember where now) Jesus said to His disciples that with the Holy Spirit, they would do even greater things in His name, than He did himself.  I think that was at the same place where He said, “You will say to this mountain move, and it will be done.”  (or something like that). 

 

         OK, now I’ll tell you what happened.  Later in the afternoon we were riding in a rented pontoon boat and we found an island that had a rope tied to a branch over the water so we stopped and went and played on it for a little while.  It was a lot of fun.  The dads took turns staying on the boat while the rest of us went and played on the rope swing. 

 

Well, Stephanie’s dad brought a tow rope contraption (I don’t know what it was called) that we used when we went knee boarding and we were going to need in order to water ski later.  While most of us were swinging, the dads were trying to untangle the rope from the propeller and in the process the connection apparatus to the rope got dropped and it sunk to the bottom of the lake.  I think it was supposed to float, but it didn’t.  The lake was pretty murky there by the island, and we guessed probably about 20 feet deep where the apparatus was dropped.  Stephanie’s dad yelled over to us on the island asking if anyone had goggles.  I had brought a pair, so I swam to the boat to get them. 

 

By that time Misty was over by the boat too.  I gave her my goggles and she was going to try to swim to the bottom to find the connector.  Poor Misty went down time after time.  I went down with her a couple times, not to help (because I didn’t have goggles and had to keep my eyes shut) but just to hold her hand and give her moral support while she went down.  I couldn’t hold my breath for very long at all.  I hadn’t been swimming in a long time and never have been good at holding my breath for very long.  It was a little scary going down there.  Our ears got really sore.  Misty looked like she was in a lot of pain afterwards.  We all prayed that God would help us to find it, but it seemed hopeless.  The water was so dirty and so deep.  Even with the goggles on, I could only see a short distance in front of my face.  It seemed like I would swim downward for a while but I never could see a thing but dirty water in front of me.  I never was even able to see the bottom.  Maybe it was because I was scared.  I don’t know.  I think Misty swam farther down than I did.

We all kind of gave up.  We all got back on the boat and I went over to the side of the boat and looked over at the water.  I asked God to show me where it was so that I could dive in and get it.  I kept scanning the water intently, hoping God would give me some kind of laser vision so that I could see through the water.  Then I noticed a small light reflecting on the water from the sky a short way from the boat.  It was pretty cloudy then and Steph and Kelly said they saw a little hole in the clouds where the light was coming from.  The light reflecting on the lake was very small.  I could have covered it with my. Hand.  It was not in the spot there the rope thing had been lost either, but I told whoever was standing next to me that we needed to try diving right in that spot.  It was like God had bored a hole in the clouds and pointed to a spot in the lake.  I asked Misty if she wanted to try one last time, and she said no.  I think her ears were hurting her from diving down so much.  So I grabbed the goggles and went to a little perch in the back of the boat. 

 

I stood there for a minute or two until I located the light again.  When it reappeared, I dove off of the boat.  I can’t think of a way to describe in words just how awesome and spectacular it was.  I went down a ways and then there it was in front of me!  I grabbed it and swam back to the surface holding it high above my head in.  Swimming back to the boat I thanked my Father for I had had the privilege of taking part in a miracle.  

 

I have had some awesome answers to prayer before, but I think that was by far the most awesome.  I was almost shaking for a while after that, it was such an awesome feeling.  I feel so unworthy for God to do that through my prayers.  God came with us on that trip and man did He make it awesome!  I don’t think I could have had a better graduation party short of spending it in heaven!  Last night I couldn’t go to sleep for the longest time just thinking about it!  In my mind I can still see that little red contraption floating a little above the bottom of the lake in front of me.  I think that is a mind picture I will never forget as long as I live!

 

This occurrence at the lake was, I believe, a test of my faith, which only served to strengthen it even more.  I felt so privileged to have been given the opportunity to take part in such an awesome experience, and yet it was also a lesson to me, for I realized that had I not persisted in prayer and presumed to ask God for the impossible, I would not have gotten to see Him work in such a miraculous way.  Perhaps, I thought, people would see Him work like this more often if we would but ask for it.  

  

Do you believe in miracles? 

Spanish Blog: Delighted by Answered Prayer

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I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, Move from here to there and it will move.  Nothing will be impossible for you.  (Matthew 17:20)

During my high school years, God chose to draw my heart closer to His through answering my prayers immediately and sometimes miraculously.  Still intrigued with what I had learned as a young child about how God answered the prayers of men like George Muller, I decided to try his tactic of praying for something and then looking for the answer expecting to see it.  I realized, of course, that God would only grant requests which were good for me and in accordance with His will, but I also believed that He desired to work for His children through answering their prayers.  

 

  If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!  Matthew 7:11

 

I started off by praying for little things – like that I would find a missing book, or for resolution when my dad  was struggling to fix a broken appliance.  I would pray immediately when an unfortunate situation arose, and almost 100% of the time God would do what I asked of Him right away.  I was thrilled – especially in instances involving other people such as when my dad was frustrated with something.

                  

 

Another instance that stands out in my memory was when I was outside with my little brother searching for our lost cat.  I remember looking all over our property to no avail, and then telling David that we should stop and pray for God’s help.  And I kid you not, when we opened our eyes from that prayer the cat was directly in front of us walking toward us.  That sort of things actually happened quite often. 

 

 

This victory in my prayer life led me to pray more often.  I realized that if I wasn’t careful, however, I would end up praying only for selfish things.  So I would make a point of thanking God for beautiful weather, or praising Him for this or that.  Every once in a while God chose not to grant me what I requested immediately, and I recognized that I needed to accept that response, move on, and assume that what I wanted wasn’t good for me at that time.  When I was lonely or discouraged, I would spend time with Him (often on our family swing set outside) talking with Him and looking forward to the time I would get to see Him face to face.  I was delighted with the tangible evidence of the personal relationship that I was forming with my divine Pursuer.

Eventually I got a little bolder with my prayers.  When I was fourteen years old, our family had become a family of seven, and our family vehicle was quite cramped whenever we went anywhere as a family.  So, despite the fact that my parents had no plans of purchasing another vehicle any time soon, I began to pray that we would be able to get a larger car.

 

 

Two weeks later, as we were going somewhere as a family, our car began to eject steam of some kind.  We were barely able to pull into a gas station before it stopped working entirely.  Mechanics who worked at the station informed us a couple days later that it would not be worth fixing.  My parents began scouting for another vehicle and before long we had a larger, much more comfortable van.  God had answered my prayer again.

 

 

The most exciting instance of answer to prayer, however, occurred a few years later.  I’ll write about that next time!

 

 

Do you believe that God desires to grant you things for your good?  Do you involve Him in the small things as well as the large?  

 

 

 

Maternal Labor, Swimming, and Heaven

Our home church in the US has just begun a sermon series on Heaven, and I’ve been excited to tune in virtually because it’s one of my favorite topics!  The first message in the series included an excerpt from Randy Alcorn’s book, "Heaven," about Florence Chadwick, who attempted to swim from Catalina Island to the coast of California, and after making it the vast majority of the way to shore, she gave up and climbed in a boat.  She later said, “All I could see was the fog…. I think if I could have seen the shore I would have made it.”  This story was used to talk about how important it is for us to set our eyes on the prize and keep from being overwhelmed with the discouraging circumstances of this world.  

 

 

The metaphor about Florence's experience of seeing only the fog made me think immediately of my experiences of being in labor before giving birth to Finn and Skye.  I’m sure many women who have attempted to labor naturally have had a similar experience of feeling overwhelmed by the ongoing pain and the inability to see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

 

 

There are several verses in the Bible which actually compare our wait on this earth for the next one to a pregnant woman's labor before childbirth.

 

“When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.” John 16:21

 

 “For many will come in My name saying ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray.  And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars.  See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.  For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, there will be famines and earthquakes in various places.  All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” Matthew 24:5-8

 

 “For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.  While people are saying, ‘There is peace and security,’ then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.” 1 Thessalonians 5:2-3

 

 “For we know that the whole of creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.” Revelation 8:22

 

 

In both of my pregnancies I have been blessed to be able to attempt an unmedicated childbirth, and both experiences were incredibly striking experiences (in a good way, thankfully!)  After waiting for 9 months in near constant discomfort (which makes it feel like much more than 9 months), there was a beautiful freedom and victory in being able to put a pause on all other responsibilities and activities and focus entirely on receiving and enduring the last of the pain that the pregnancy would throw at me. 

 

 

I remember from my labor experience with Skye, that as the pain increased and the breaks between contractions became fewer and farther between, it was still possible to gracefully receive and endure as long as I could focus all of my attention on doing so.  The real difficulty arose when the triage nurses came at me with monitors, needles, and a bed on which they insisted I lie still (no offense to the nurses who I'm sure were doing their job well!).  Facing all of these distractions and expectations in the midst of incredible pain caused me to lose sight of my progress and think only of the present pain. 

 

 

All other senses began to lose their acuity, and all my mind could think of was pain.  I no longer saw or heard the people around me (though I think they were attempting to offer help and support).  My experience of reality slowly shifted into one of mere survival.  Like Florence Chadwick looking all around her and seeing only fog, my experience of the present eclipsed all reason.  In reality, I had already made it around 18 hours--nine tenths of the way through my labor, and yet I caved and requested the epidural. Amid the constant procedural hoops to jump through, the pain had literally become all consuming.

 

 

Most mothers in the world, both today and throughout time, have not had the epidural option as I have, and as such, are forced to push through to the finish line.  Here in Peru, anesthesia of that caliber is not offered except for cesarean section deliveries.  It strikes me that this is somewhat of a universal experience which God has likely ordained, among other reasons, to point us toward spiritual truth.  So why does the Bible repeatedly use maternal labor as a metaphor for our journey toward eternity on this earth?  There are several parallels that I see.

 

 

Eyes on the Prize

In the Christian life, it is absolutely essential that we keep our eyes focused on the prize, and do not cave to the whims of temporal setbacks or the expectations of others which would call us to live as though the present is all that there is. 

 

 “… One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.  Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you.  Only let us hold true to what we have attained.”  Philippians 3:13-14

 

 “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize?  So run that you may obtain it.  Every athlete exercises self-control in all things.  They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.  So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air.  But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.” 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

 

 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2

 

 

Acceptance of Struggle

Just as we know that labor pains are actually good and necessary steps toward the delivery of a healthy child into the world, we have to believe that the suffering which God allows and even ordains for His children on this earth is good and necessary for propelling us toward glory.

 

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”  James 1:2-4

 

“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”  Romans 5:3-5

 

“Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.”  Romans 8:17-18

 

 

Living in the Already but Not Yet

Just as a laboring mother has to balance her longings for future joy and relief with the present need to persevere in caring for herself and her unborn child, believers are called to walk in the light of two very true and weighty realities.  Losing sight of either our present calling or our future goal will have unfortunate consequences for our sanctification and participation in the kingdom.

 

“As it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.  For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.  If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.  I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.  But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account.” Philippians 1:20-24

 

“Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:13

 

“Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:58

 

 

Equipped for the Journey

As a mother begins to labor, it is immensely helpful for her to be equipped with correct expectations.  She must recognize that pain and struggle is to be expected, but likewise that times of rest and relief are also to be expected.  The Christian life is the same.  We must pace ourselves and not only accept the struggle, but look for and savor the times of joy and victory.

 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Matthew 11:28-29

 

“Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.”  Mark 6:31

 

“In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, LORD, make me dwell in safety.” Psalm 4:8

 

 

 

A Strong Support Team

A laboring mother needs people around her to reassure her when she’s discouraged, remind her of truth when she can’t see it, and physically be near her to offer aid and remind her that she’s not alone. Similarly, each member of Christ’s body needs the help and encouragement of the other members because there will be times of feeling alone, of believing the devil’s lies, and of feeling completely discouraged.  The Christian life is meant to be lived in community.

 

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Hebrews 10:24-25

 

“But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.” Hebrews 3:13

 

“If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.” 1 Corinthians 12:26

 

 

 

The Hour Unknown

Just as mothers never know how long their labor will last, we are called to walk in faith toward the unknown hour of Christ’s joyous return.  We may be assured that the day will come.

 

 “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son,  but the Father only…  Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.  But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into.  Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”  Matthew 24:36, 42-44

 

“For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.” 1 Thessalonians 5:2

 

“He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority.” Acts 1:7