Dot to Dot

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When lightning streaks across the sky and we hear a clap of thunder, we see the lightning well ahead of hearing the sound. Of course there’s a scientific explanation for this, but it’s also a great illustration of how God answers prayer.

I think of the heartfelt longings parents have for their children, praying fervently over them for literally decades, waiting and waiting for results. We pray for the sick to be healed and for those suffering pain to be set free, but nothing happens. We cry out to God to save the lost and strengthen the weak. And widows beg him to rescue them from despondency, fear or loneliness. Why doesn’t he answer?

All of us can be overcome by discouragement when we pray and don’t see quick answers, but despite feeling that God doesn’t always hear us, he does. And he always answers. I believe as our prayers reach him, whether they’re uttered with eloquent words or tearful moans, he puts his answers into motion right then.

I like to picture my life on a timeline. A dot somewhere on the line represents my current dilemma and my plea for God’s help. He immediately places another dot on the line representing his answer, but not necessarily right next to where I am. From my spot, I can’t see his dot, but it’s sitting there, down the line.

Day by day I move closer to his dot, his answer. During moments when I feel he hasn’t heard or maybe doesn’t care, I tell myself the dot is perched somewhere ahead of me, awaiting my arrival. Just knowing I’ll eventually come to it causes me to wait better.

From God’s vantage point, the entire time line in visible, starting with the dot representing my birth to the one marking my death. He’s interested in what happens all along the line, not just at any one point. If I don’t see or hear him immediately after I pray, this should never be cause for doubting that he has already acted on my behalf.

Scripture is full of references to the proper timing of events: “about that time, when the time had come, in the fullness of time, at the appointed time, in the course of time.” We’ve all heard the expression, “Timing is everything,” and of course God’s timing is never off. We may not like where he puts his answer-dot, but his placement is made with precision and purpose.

As sure as lightning follows thunder, his answers will follow our prayers… even though they may not come lightning-fast.

“In my distress I called to the Lord; I called out to my God. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came to his ears. Out of the brightness of his presence bolts of lightning blazed forth. The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters.” (2 Samuel 22:7,13-14,17)

On the Move

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Fall is a season of change. Children go back to school, college co-eds head back to campus, and many young adults sign new apartment leases. Each change involves packing up, rearranging all things familiar and, in some cases, making a major move.

Last week my sister and brother-in-law joined the relocation parade by moving from their suburban home of 40 years to downtown Chicago.

The buyer of their 5000+ square foot house was a young couple with a toddler and baby. After hunting in the area for a year, they toured Bervin and Mary’s home and fell in love with it the first time through. We puzzled over why such a small family would commit to such a large house, but gradually the pieces came together.

The young mother, on her second visit, made mention of the “Christian energy” throughout the rooms, commenting on the peaceful atmosphere. “It’s just what we’ve been looking for,” she said. Her husband asked if they could buy the 3’ X 4’ framed Scripture verse hanging over the front door: “Know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind.”

At the real estate closing, the reason they chose a large home became clear. The buyers handed Mary a note of gratitude and described how they felt called to help missionaries and planned to use their extra rooms for that purpose.

It can be a challenge to leave the home where you’ve raised 7 children, but when the process became difficult, the testimony of these young buyers made it easier. As Mary said, “I can’t think of anyone else I’d rather have living in our home.”

Last summer Bervin and Mary offered housing to missionaries from Ireland. This family of 6 needed a place to stay for a month, and also needed a car. Bervin and Mary gave a thumbs-up to both requests, proving to be good examples of the scriptural instruction hanging in their entry. Their buyers will continue in this vein.

All of us can look back on multiple moves, and it’s a good idea to search for God’s plan in the progression; sometimes it’s as plain as an architect’s blueprint. Over four decades of time, because of Mary and Bervin’s willingness to serve, God used their home for his purposes in hundreds of ways. As they left that address, he moved along with them and is preparing a fresh blueprint with plans for use of their new home.

Yesterday Louisa and her cousin Marta made a move of their own, from their family homes to an apartment just north of the Loop. After unloading cars and pickups full of boxes, bins and beds, we gathered in their small living room and Bervin prayed, inviting God’s involvement in their new home.

And we know the Lord is ready with the perfect blueprint for two 20-somethings living in the heart of Chicago.

“Know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind. If thou seek him, he will be found of thee.” (1 Chronicles 28:9)

Future Widows

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Writing a book gobbles up more than 40 hours each week but is very satisfying work, and I’m privileged to have the chance. My book’s purpose is to nourish careworn widows with daily devotionals focusing on God’s provision for them.

The process between an author signing a contract and a reader being able to hold the book in her hands is usually more than a year, but of course God sees the finished product today and, more importantly, those who’ll need it. He knows which pages will end up stained with tears from which woman’s grieving eyes and is shaping each devotional entry now, in 2011, toward individuals who will read them in 2012.

Yesterday I spent time thinking about these women, future widows who next year will be where I was two years ago, and God gave me a shocking thought. Many of my future readers are not yet widows. They’re still married to the men they love and have no inkling widowhood is quietly moving toward the edges of their lives. In some cases, widowhood will arrive to the very young who are still thinking they’ll reach their 50th anniversaries.

Recently I chatted with a youthful mother of three who lost her husband as they slept side-by-side, discovering his death in the morning when he didn’t rouse with his alarm. In her shock she didn’t know what to do next. Her children, stirring in adjacent rooms on a school morning, were ages 8, 7 and 5. In the chaotic weeks and months that followed, this 34 year old widow needed mountains of support. I fervently hope my book will help women just like her.

Other 2012 widows will be those now married to older men. Even then, when death is more likely and logical, that woman’s distress over losing her mate will be enormous. If disease factors in, we think a wife will be sufficiently forewarned to escape some of the sorrow after death comes. But in talking with scores of widows, I’ve learned that an illness-warning doesn’t lessen heartache.

Still others will experience circumstances similar to mine, a combination of disease’s warning with the calendar’s “too soon.” According to census figures, nearly a million American women will become widows in 2012. As I write my book and pray for them, most have no clue they’ll be in that group.

But God knows.

And he is the single most effective rescue for each one. As I think through the devotionals I’m writing, my heart hurts for those about to start down this road, but I consider lack of future awareness a blessing for them, as it was for me. While writing within God’s promptings, I’m relieved to know he sees and loves each soon-to-be-widow and is preparing comfort now, for those who don’t yet know they’ll need it tomorrow.

“Don’t be afraid… You will no longer remember… the sorrows of widowhood.” (Isaiah 54:4)