For years and years, I have always considered my family to be a complicated one. Think of Michael Scott in The Office saying with intention "I'm going to make this way harder than it needs to be" and you'll get how it has felt. There have been so many situations that have seemed too big and complex for any of us to see a way through, and many times where I have felt like hoping for answered prayer was just too exhausting.
As we reach this years’ 40 days of answered prayer, I can look back and say with confidence that through it all, God has been working in our family in amazing ways.
Here's a quick tour:
- My sister has cystic fibrosis, and in 2019 she started a new gene therapy medication when it was made available on the NHS. It was so expensive that her pharmacy did not have insurance to keep it at their store. She has responded well to it and it has changed the game for her. Her loss of lung function has been reversed by a decade. It quite literally saved her life.
- A decade ago my Dad had a frontal lobe brain tumour which left him with a traumatic brain injury. When he had it removed he was told it would likely come back in 10 years time and it was right on time in 2022. We were all very nervous about how he would handle the recovery this time but the procedure was straightforward and he was able to recover quicker than expected.
- My Mum has worked flat out for years in a job that was increasingly becoming unrewarding. She worked relentlessly, through covid and through chemotherapy. She was exhausted but felt stuck. Through a very odd sequence of events (ones that didn't seem initially good at all) she has now retired and is loving life.
Finally, David and I have a daughter! Before having her, we lost two pregnancies to miscarriage - during the covid pandemic, which was just the worst. Zoe is the answer to the most desperate prayers I have ever prayed, so seeing her turn two at the end of this month is the biggest blessing.
I’ve tried to keep it succinct but each one of these stories could be much longer (like I said, we’re complicated). Almost all of these situations started out with a bad situation, which got worse, and then much worse, before an unexpected pouring out of goodness that I believe could only have happened through God’s guiding hand.
Through all these situations, I am reminded of Isaiah 55v8:
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.
As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."
Life is not straight forward. Sometimes it feels like, God, couldn’t you make this a bit less complicated? But, God’s ways are not our ways. He’s with us for the long haul, working in all circumstances to comfort us, bring hope and restore us.
Anna Fleck
Re:Hope West End
Does your prayer request ever feel too big or too complex? Bring your most complicated request to God again today, knowing that nothing is too much for Him!