Lamentations & HallelujahsChikamu

Choose to Trust

What are you doing? I asked my husband incredulously, as he packed our bags. 

“Getting ready to go to the hospital, to get you checked in,” he replied in his calm and steady voice. I shook my head at him and gave a bitter laugh. We didn’t have enough fuel to get us to the city, or money to buy fuel, much less pay the admission fee. Yet here he was packing the bags, then proceeded to wash the car and load it up. He was choosing to trust that God would help.

In a matter of hours, we saw miracle after miracle unfolding before us, God parting the sea in front of us. I was able to check-in that day for my scheduled cesarean because God showed up through unexpected people who gave generously without even knowing our situation. They had a nudge and acted on it. 

It’s not always easy to trust in the face of devastating loss or what seems impossible or even ludicrous. We often laugh like our sister Sarah as she laughed when she heard “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” Her lamentations had probably ceased long before. Little did she know her story was far from over. Her hallelujah was on its way.

Our hallelujahs born out of our lamentations are bittersweet. The memory of the pain and sorrows linger. However, we can raise a hallelujah because we choose to trust God, and we choose to surrender to His will. Even when we don’t understand, even when we don’t get the answer we so desperately wanted. We choose to look at His track record and what we know to be true. 

I had this verse written down where I could see it and woke up reciting it most mornings, it gave me hope:

Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,

 for his compassions never fail.

 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;

therefore I will wait for him.” Lamentations 3:21-24

Whatever season you are in, I borrow the words of David to encourage you to trust in God at all times. Pour out your hearts to Him. God is your refuge. Draw near to Him, in good and bad, with lamentations and hallelujahs. He will meet you there.

Prayer: Father, I choose this day to lift up a hallelujah. I can feel Your grip on my life, I can see Your handiwork. I recall Your faithfulness and it fills my heart with hope, with courage. I choose to trust You. I remain confident that I will see Your goodness in my life and in my family. In Jesus’ name. Amen