Hope when life seems hopeless
Published: Mon, 08/19/24
Updated: Mon, 08/19/24
Lessons:The Good and Beautiful God, Lesson #1 The Good and Beautiful God, Lesson #2 The Good and Beautiful God, Lesson #3 The Good and Beautiful God, Lesson #4 The Good and Beautiful God, Lesson #5 The Good and Beautiful God, Lesson #6 The Good and Beautiful God, Lesson #7 The Good and Beautiful God, Lesson #8 The Good and Beautiful God, Lesson #9
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A few years after Madeline died I was in the middle of a day of solitude. My mind went over the last few years, thinking about the pain of hearing the news from the doctors, the countless sleepless nights on hospital floors, and the dark and rainy day we placed her body in the earth. I turned to God and said, without thinking, “Maybe it would have been better if she had never been born.” That was when I received one of the clearest experiences of God responding to me that I’ve ever had in my life. On this day, at that moment, a little voice penetrated my mind, the voice of a little girl, a voice I had never heard but immediately recognized as Madeline’s. “Daddy, you should never say that. If I had never been born, I would not be here now. I am so happy here in heaven, and one day you and Mom and Jacob will come and see me, and we will live forever together. And there is more good that has happened because of me that you can’t see now but will one day understand.” I immediately repented of my despicable thoughts and crumpled to the ground in tears. I was thankful to hear such words. Another narrative had entered my mind—the story about the promise of heaven. I was beginning to see how a person could face tragedy and still say “God is good to me,” to understand how Job could say, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him” (Job 13:15 kjv), and to know how Jesus could tremble in a garden and still call his Father “Abba.” Two years after Madeline’s death my wife, Meghan, became pregnant. For eight months we lived with a lot of anxiety, mixed with a little faith. When it came time to have that final sonogram, our hearts were in our throats, bracing for bad news. The technician, who did not know our story, kept saying things we loved to hear: “Perfect hands . . . perfect heart . . . your baby looks just perfect. Do you want to know the gender?” We said yes. “It’s a little girl.” We both smiled. “What are you going to name her?” she asked. At the very same moment we said, “Hope.” James Smith, The Good and Beautiful God: Falling in Love with the God Jesus Knows (Westmont, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2009). Check out our Bible Study on The Good and Beautiful God by James Bryan Smith. These lessons are available on Amazon, as well as a part of Good Questions Have Groups Talking Subscription Service. Like Netflix for Bible Lessons, one low subscription gives you access to all our lessons--thousands of them. For a medium-sized church, lessons are as little as $10 per teacher per year. |
