“Deep waters. Rough patches. Hard times.” Call them what you will, we all have times of great difficulty that can try our faith in God. Yet right there, even in the midst of deepest despair, is God in all His tenderness, almightiness, and faithfulness, with a love so pure, so sure, it inspires hope when we turn to Him. Every glimmer of God’s ever-present love—so gentle, yet mighty—breaks through the gloom and lifts us higher to inspired views of God and His creation. And, step by step, we see the power of His healing Christ manifested in meaningful, tangible ways. We come out of the difficulties stronger than before. Moreover, we’ve proven God’s promise: “He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him” (Ps. 91:15).
I learned this in one of my darkest hours. In tears and desperation, I called a Christian Science practitioner for Christian Science treatment (specific, scientific, Christian prayer) for our seriously ill son. Doctors had just told my husband, who was not yet a student of Christian Science, that there was no cure for our son’s crippling arthritic disease. All they could do was prescribe drugs to help ease the pain. My husband’s answer was, “I guess I’m ready to trust God now.” With that, we brought our son home from the hospital (where he’d gone for tests), ready to rely entirely on God for healing.
I’ll never forget the Christian Science practitioner’s assuring words to me: “God is in the blessing business, and this whole experience will only bless every member of your family. All you’ll take from this experience is its blessing.” I admit, at that moment, I wasn’t interested in blessings. In fact, I remember thinking: “Spare me the blessings. All I want is for our child to be well. Is that too much to ask?” But I didn’t say that to the kind practitioner.
