Miry Clay

We have someone very dear to us who is really suffering right now. This person is "walking through the valley of the shadow" that David described so well in Psalm 23. We are honored that this individual has chosen to confide in us and seek counsel from us during this time of need. As we talked tonight, I shared that as I have gotten older, I really have more questions than answers where issues of faith are concerned. I have been a Christian my entire life and yet the more I see of the world and the pain and suffering in it, the more I have been forced to accept the reality that we will not know the answers to some of the really difficult questions on this side of heaven. The bottom line is that life can be really hard sometimes, even for really "good" people. The one thing that I have grown to believe even more strongly as a Christ follower is that God hears the cries of the broken. I believe that God's ears attend to those who cry out in pain, desperation, loneliness, brokenness, emptiness and grief. Adoption taught me this. I have seen firsthand how God took my children from the "miry clay" and led them to "still waters" where they could grow and bloom. God did this because they - and their families - were in need and He heard their cries for help. He saw them and He heard them. For some reason, that resonates deeply with me and provides me with an anchor for faith amidst the myriad of questions that often swirl in my head, particularly when faced with the suffering in the world today. God sees. God hears. God cares. And because of that, no matter now dark the valley, we are never alone.