When It Feels Like God Isn’t Listening

Happy February 25, everyone! This blog post is going to be a little heart-to-heart chat about some things that are really important to me. I might seem a little too deep, but I hope reading this will bring you a newfound peace and confidence.

 

Without going into great detail (maybe I’ll do a separate post with specifics), about six years ago my little sister became very sick and every doctor she saw was either very puzzled or dismissed it as the flu. After searching for some time, Duke Children’s Hospital was able to tell us that she had 4 kidneys (not all were functioning properly). At first, this resulted in almost daily doctors appointments and tests, and many surgeries. Over the years, they discovered she also had tethered cord (which greatly damaged her bladder) and many complications with her large intestine. Since 2015, we have traveled back and forth to Columbus, Ohio, for her to receive care at Nation Wide Children’s Hospital. Now she has a Malone in her stomach and a stimulator in her back. This is a VERY condensed summary of the past six years. I could tell you stories upon stories of the adventures and challenges we’ve had.

I tell you all of this information just to give you an idea of how dramatically life changed. For a while, life was just about surviving, getting through the days, and doing whatever was needed to be done. Nowadays, we are definitely not as stressed and have a better handle on things, but we still have so many questions with very little answers.

I think we all have that one thing (or multiple things) in the back of our mind that nags at us. That one thing you’ve been praying about, but eventually it slips away because nothing has changed and you don’t why.

I’ve been praying to God for miracles for years, and though some days I have more doubts, I can tell you that God has been there every step of the way. I think that every person faces loneliness. You can be surrounded constantly by the most supportive and comforting people in the world, but you can still feel lonely in your soul. Believing that God is there and he is a wonderful father is what Paul meant when he said to “fight the good fight of faith.”
So let us not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. -Galations 6:9

Hope is very powerful. It’s an expectation and desire for something. When we hope for something that doesn’t happen or hasn’t happened yet, we question God and his promises. We can become confused, bitter, and depressed.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.                                                                                                                                                -Proverbs 13:12

But what if we put our hope in Jesus instead of our circumstances? What if no matter what happens, we long for God’s will to be done and his promises to be fulfilled? It’s like asking God for a candle when he is the sun! I know he promises to care for me and uphold me. He has the BEST plans for my future and the future of my loved ones.

When we do this, we have a joy that is UNSHAKABLE. God’s love is incomprehensible and I constantly have to remind myself of that.

 

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us. -Ephesians 3:20
I may not know his plans and I may struggle with them from time to time, but when he touches my heart I have joy beyond compare, confidence in my steps, and a hope that fills all emptiness.
Thanks for reading!
Brooke

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