Some of the hardest writing we do is the in-process kind, where there is no conclusion neatly tied with a bow. It’s easier to put it all down when we know the outcome, because don’t we all love a sunny ending? But this is where we are.
The heat has been turned up around here for months, beginning last fall with another heart stent for Jerry, followed by more testing leading to a cancer diagnosis for him just before Christmas. Then we had his and her pneumonias from which I am still recovering. This week, he underwent surgery for the cancer, and it has been something from which to recover.
To a lesser degree, throw in
there one of my publishers going under leaving three books stranded and another
under contract dangling. Though I have since been blessed to receive another
contract for the newest book from Elk Lake (thank the Lord), I have had to
learn the publishing process to get the other books back up and going. Huge
learning curve.
The prophet Isaiah wrote, “When
you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you
ablaze” (Isaiah 43:2). These words written for a beloved people, included those
on a coming day a few hundred years later when Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
refused to bow down to King Nebuchadnezzar’s idol, and were bound and thrown
into a furnace so hot it consumed the soldiers who put them there. Yet, when Nebuchadnezzar
checked on them, he saw not three, but four men in the fire “unbound and unharmed
and the fourth looks like a son of the gods” (Daniel 3:23-26).
These words penned so long ago are also meant for us and what a comfort they are. No matter how hot
it gets, there is God’s promise to be with us in the flames. On the days, when
it seems there’s no end to the hard stuff, we remember that when Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego came out of the fire, not only were they not burned, “there was no
smell of fire on them.”
So here, we are in process, warm
around the collar, but thankful that once Jerry recovers from this, he should
not have to have any further treatment. We remain hopeful my situation will
resolve in the Lord’s healing time.
If you find yourself in a similar
place, know the Lord is with you no matter how hot it gets. Keep up your hope
and cling to him. He has not left you alone. As a recent song title declares, “There
is another in the fire.”