I want assurance. I want certainty everything is going to go the way I want it to go. Most importantly, I want all things related to my children to turn out positively.
My oldest has congenital heart disease. This summer he thought he was having a heart attack. A trip to the emergency room assured us he wasn’t having a heart attach but something wasn’t quite right. This began months of testing.
While we waited for the tests and results, we prayed. We enlisted others to pray with us. I began to feel certain we would have a positive outcome. We didn’t get one. He has some minor stenosis in his aortic valve with some regurgitation. This is new damage to his heart, and I was angry. I was angry at God for allowing his heart to get worse. I was angry that my son would continue to suffer. It all seems unfair.
Assurance does not equal a promised outcome when it comes to faith. We are assured that God is with us in the storm. We are assured of His unending love and grace in this world and the next. I am not assured that my son’s heart will not need further repairs.
And we[b]boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we[c] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5: 2b-5 NIV).
We are also assured that in this life there will be suffering. I don’t like it especially when it is my child. I want the promised outcome. There isn’t one. Many of us want God to promise an outcome. God promises to be with us in the midst of our suffering. He promises to be our hope. In that, there is comfort. I choose to rely on that assurance. I choose hope.
Are you willing to choose God’s assurance? Are you willing to endure suffering? Share your story here and breathe life and bring hope to others.