How Do I Dare?

I read something yesterday on Facebook that was halting. It was sad beyond words, tragic even, yet at the same time it was one of the most beautiful statements of faith I have ever witnessed. A friend had shared a blog post from a mother who is dealing with an unimaginable, almost incomprehensible, situation with the health -and very life- of her teenaged daughter.

The post caught me off-guard as I scrolled through random pictures and memes. It was a plea from this mother's heart for prayer for her daughter... her daughter who would be facing a serious surgery while in an extremely fragile state. I HAD to read the post, and then another and another, going farther and farther into the annals of this family's journey. Their struggle would be enough to make even the strongest among us crumble to the ground, and on the ground, interceding for her girl in prayer, is where this mother has lived. As her daughter's health has deteriorated, her own faith has grown. I stopped reading after about the seventh post. I was humbled... and ashamed by the things I so flippantly take for granted. How do I dare go before God with my trifles when there are people in this world for whom the struggle is so raw and so real?

Back in August, KSAT news reported a story about five individuals who were killed in a horrific head-on crash on a highway in West Texas. There was a twenty-something year old father driving an SUV that collided with a pick-up truck. Both drivers were killed as were the three children, all siblings... and all under the tender age of six. Whatever the circumstances behind the accident, I can't begin to wrap my head around it... those poor families, a church full of caskets. Such a tragedy. How could anyone deal with the enormity of that kind of loss, or pick up the pieces and move on? Only through prayer, and only through the God who is the Creator of the Universe, could such comfort and healing come.

These stories and hundreds upon thousands like them are played on repeat every. single. day. I know many. Some of these stories are being told in my own neighborhood. I have seen for myself the face of faith acting in love and service day-in and day-out, never complaining, never wavering from the task at hand, with hearts full and glad simply at the opportunity. These. These stories are the prayer-worthy ones, are they not? How can I even think of laying my petitions at God's feet when I have it pretty darn well?

Oh, don't get me wrong. I have experienced some pain and loss in my years too. "Into every life a little rain must fall," isn't that how the saying goes? My goodness, we've all weathered storms, haven't we? Tom and I have both seen our parents go on to glory, and we lived through tough medical times with our first two children, but they got well, they all did... our children in this life, and our parents in the next. Through every circumstance we prayed, and God heard and answered. For that, and so much more, we are grateful beyond words. We, however, have never had to face the kinds of tragedies and on-going struggles like the ones mentioned above, and I hope and pray we never do, but that is up to God after all. It's just that when I think about such things it makes me feel so small, my needs so insignificant in comparison.

How do I dare?

How do I dare approach His throne with my minor scrapes and bruises when there are hospitals and emergency rooms flooded with individuals clasping hands in prayer while trying simultaneously to hold their sanity together? How? ... because God invites me. Yes, that's right. His invitation goes out to all. It matters not our request... humble... staggering. He says, "Come. Come all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest." He makes no judgment call on what He deems significant. To Him, it ALL is. If it is a concern to us, it concerns Him too. He bids us pull up a chair and chat a while. He never checks His watch. He looks into our eyes. He listens attentively to every word, because we are his children, and He loves each of us dearly.

We are invited into His presence, because we are family. We have a place there, and He delights in nothing more than having us come to Him with our cares, our concerns, our problems... and, of course, also with our thanks and praise. We can approach Him with confidence, and share with Him whatever it is that is on our hearts... big things, little things... because He has extended the invitation for us to do so. It was hand-delivered by His Son at Calvary two thousand years ago. No request is too small, no petition too great. He stands at the ready to listen, to hear, to comfort, and to answer.

How dare I come?

I dare because I can. Because He bids me do so... and because I hold His invitation in my hand.

"Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need." - Hebrews 4:16

*and my husband's favorite*

"... do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:6-7