“Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? …No…nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:35-39
When I was a young teenager my family went to a small cabin in Maine for a vacation. The cabin stood in the middle of a huge open field, and every day I would grab my kite and go out to fly it. I would set the kite just so on the grass, stretch out the string, step away and wait. I’d give it a tug, then wait some more. Sometimes I’d get impatient. I’d toss the kite into the air, then watch discouraged as it fell back to the ground. I tried to fly my kite every day. I spent hours at it, tugging the string, tossing the kite into the air. It finally got to the point where my family would joke, “Taking your kite out for a drag?”
So often, nothing happened. I’d try for an hour, and the kite would just lie on the grass. But every so often, seemingly randomly, the wind would come, lift the kite high where the upper winds would carry it, and it would soar. My heart would soar, too. I loved it when the kite would catch the breeze and fly!
That summer, I learned that even when it wasn’t soaring, I still loved my kite. It was beautiful, red and blue and green, and so graceful in the air. I learned an important lesson, too: sometimes you just have to wait for a breeze. That’s how life is: sometimes the curtains in the window hang limp and the kite on the string doesn’t soar.
But you see, this doesn’t mean that there is no air.
No matter how much I may want the kite to soar; No matter how much I may rage and complain; No matter if I despair; The kite cannot move unless the air moves beneath it.
Sometimes you just have to wait for a breeze.
The hardest part of this is the waiting. But this isn’t a “sitting-still, hands-folded-in-your-lap” kind of waiting. You have to keep working at it. While you’re waiting you have to keep listening for the wind, keep studying the weather patterns. You have to keep looking for the signs of a breeze. You have to stay focused and alert for changes in the weather.
It’s the same thing with my faith. When I find myself in darkness, struggling and in pain, when I cry out to God, but can’t find him anywhere, that’s when I have to remember to wait. But, no sitting still; I have to remember to stay active. I have to keep praying, reading my Bible, worshipping God and watching. Watching for small signs of God working in my life as I wait and cry and mourn and worry and despair and doubt.
It’s during the dark times that I go back to the basics of what I know to be true.
When I can’t feel God near me, caring for me, I remember who God is: God is slow to anger, rich in love and faithfulness (Exodus 34:6-7)…I think of Jesus calming the storm (Matthew 8:23-27), of God providing manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16:4-5), of Peter stepping out of the boat to go to Jesus on the water and how when Peter faltered and started to sink, Jesus IMMEDIATELY reached out his hand to save him (Matthew 14:25-31)…I think of all the wonderful words that describe our Creator God…and I pray, whether I feel like it or not.
Just because your kite isn’t flying, does not mean there is no air…In the same way, the fact that you can’t see him working in your life does not mean that God is not right here caring for you.
God cares for me–It doesn’t matter if I believe it—if I feel it in my own life—it’s still true.
God cares for me and God cares for you.
In spite of all the trials, testing and suffering we may face, God still watches over us and meets our every need.
Believe it.
The View from Mt. Hope 