Last month one of my managers asked if we could talk for a few minutes. I knew that Roger had been wrestling with a decision about how to provide housing for his family. Soon he and his wife Carolyn would have five children, not four as they originally thought. Getting adequate housing for a family of seven in Southern California is no easy matter. But the subject of our visit came as quite a surprise. "Carolyn and I just went to the doctor yesterday and got some bad news. He said the skull and brain of one of the twins is not developing properly. As a matter of fact, the baby is expected to die immediately after birth." At first I didn't know what to say, but deep inside myself I knew two things: God is for life, not death; and He wants us to believe what He says about our future, not what people say. As we continued to talk, the Lord brought to mind the story of David and Bathsheba. 2 Samuel 11 and 12 tells about David committing adultery with Bathsheba and murdering Uriah to cover up his sin. When Nathan dramatically exposes David's sin, he admits his guilt and asks forgiveness as recorded in Psalm 51. Nathan then tells David the Lord has forgiven him, but the son born to him will die. What David did at this point was very shocking to those around him, and probably would be very shocking to us as well. He didn't mourn hopelessly before God; he didn't ask all of his friends to pray for the child; he didn't make plans to bury the child; he didn't even get mad at God. Instead he pled with God for the child's life, fasting and praying for seven days and nights until the child died. He then got up, washed, worshipped the Lord and ate! When his servants asked him why he acted that way he replied, "When the child was alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, 'Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live!' But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me." First, David asked God for healing with his whole heart because he knew something very important about the character of God. He knew that God is gracious and merciful, and it wouldn't have surprised David if God changed His mind and let the child live! "For the Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love." (Psalms 103:8) I want to grow in my awareness that I serve a God whose mercy and grace are boundless, and His love past finding out. Second, David sought the Lord for healing even though he had a word from God Himself through the prophet Nathan that his son would die. But how often do we, without even seeking God, abandon hope and live in dread and fear because of a word from another person such as a doctor about our health, or an economist about our country? I want to set my heart to cry out to the Lord for His will to be done and believe Him rather than listen to man. Often we don't seek God with our whole heart because we think it's selfish or we're afraid that we may be disappointed or hurt. But even though David's prayer was not answered as he wanted, God was pleased with the attitude of his Seeking to know and stand in the will of the Lord isn't easy. You may get hurt and be disappointed for awhile, but the end will be, "Well done, good and faithful servant!" In closing I want to share that I just got a prayer letter from Roger and Carolyn asking their prayer partners to join them in seeking God for a miracle of complete healing. Please join with us in praying for that healing to the glory of God. And please continue to pray for Cora's healing that we know is coming despite what the circumstances are saying. May the Lord make us a people after His own Heart and may we learn anew to make Him our only hope in every aspect of our lives. We love you and thank you for your prayerful support.
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