Faith in the Middle - A Conclusion
As I sat in some much needed silence and rest this weekend, I came across this quote.
“God assures His people, promising, “I am with you.” He doesn’t promise victory on their terms, safety according to their ideas of comfort, or a timeline that always makes sense, but the Lord is faithful to tell His children that He is near, ever-present, and carrying them through their wilderness. When we are tempted to think such assurance means the way will be easy, sensible, and low risk for us, our Saviour reminds us that His presence is all the help we need.” - Ruth Chou Simons “Gracelaced”
His presence is all the help we need.
My mind immediately turned to the Faith in the Middle project I have had the immense privilege of bringing to you this past year. Twelve unique stories and perspectives of walking through trials and not letting go of faith. Initially, I was thinking I would find twelve different “how-to’s.” But what I found rather were common threads of truth that, when clung too, gave the foundation for the practical.
We began the journey with Lauren’s story of walking through post-partum depression. I still often return to her statement that “the dark moments will come, but they will never be as dark as it would be without Jesus.” She taught me that joy and peace in pain can co-exist, and that we are never too late for Jesus.
From there we met Christina in her story of chronic illness. She reminded me that God is steadfast, unchanging, and when we cast our burdens on Him, He lifts our eyes off of our troubles and turns our gaze to behold His goodness.
The journey continued with Vanessa’s story of miscarriages and the declaration that God is sovereign. (This would be a common thread through many stories.) The two biggest takeaways from our conversation were a) that it is okay to wrestle with God and still be at peace that His will be done, because He can handle everything and all of us, and b) I have a choice of how to respond, either based on my feelings or based in truth.
On to Allison’s reflections of faith in the middle of a life of singleness. I love the quote from Elisabeth Elliot that I used to sum up this story: “The secret is Christ in me, not me in a different set of circumstances.” Allison demonstrated this beautiful “yes and” in her story: the challenges of walking a single life AND embracing His will for her todays.
Maggie’s story of faith in the waiting (and sometimes decades of waiting as was her story) beautifully highlighted that it is often in the deepest darkness that we can see God in ways we cannot see Him in the light. That it is enough to know that the light is coming and with it will come transformation. So look for evidence of God, even in the darkness.
Speaking of darkness, the next story of Margarita walking through abuse taught me that God sees us when we are in the darkness. El Roi: God who sees me. He is never far away, and He answers when we call.
Then came time to share perhaps the hardest one for me to write, and that was Maureen’s story of faith through the death of a spouse. As my mom shared her story of my dad’s illness and eventual death, we sat in her living and through tears were able to declare the goodness of Jehovah-Jireh, the God who provides SPECIFICALLY for our needs for each day, day by day.
Next came a conversation with my friend Alice about the importance of clinging to truth, especially when the sudden and unexpected curveballs of life come. Speaking of truth, I enjoyed taking the time in this story to dive into a lot of scripture. (Side note: many of these women quoted passages of Psalms as sources of comfort and strength in their stories.)
This set the stage for Laura’s story of the death of her son Tim. She impressed upon me the importance of clinging to God’s promises, even when we don’t feel Him, and that He has purposes beyond our imagination.
We continued on to meet Rachel and talk about faith in the middle of disappointment. I was reminded once more that it is possible to hold grief and hope, sorrow and joy, and that being vulnerable and honest with God with all of how we are feeling opens the door to experience His comfort and love. Also, even as circumstances shift and change, He is the constant and He never quits on us.
As the journey neared the end, we had the privilege of hearing May Anne’s story of faith through finding her identity and purpose. Perhaps more than any story, her’s is one that is still very much “in the middle” as she continues to meet God on the proverbial bathroom floor. And it emphasized to me what I was coming to realize. All of faith is in the middle because we live our lives in the middle of a much bigger story that is being written.
We finished up just last month with Abigail’s story of faith through various life trials. And I saw the same major theme in her story that I found in the others: the faithfulness and steadfastness of God. He truly is all that we need as we navigate life’s challenges.
Having finished this particular project, I am left with three takeaways:
When we are through to the other side of a particular fire or river, we can look back and see God’s faithfulness in bringing us through. It is like that familiar poem about footprints in the sand. We can see where God carried us. As a believer, it is important however that we develop the practice of being able to see and name His faithfulness while IN THE MIDDLE. The ladies taught me how to do this: speaking truth and promises even when we don’t FEEL it, choosing to respond to what is TRUE and not just an emotion, lifting eyes off of the circumstance and onto the One who is sovereign and holds all things.
God meets us uniquely in our own unique stories. It never ceased to amaze me how with each different personality and experience, God would show up in ways that meant the most to each one. He knows us so intimately. And He is intimate in his tender care and pursuit of us as well.
Finally, and I think most important and profound, I learned this: while these were 12 unique stories of women of various ages and stages with a range of experiences, it is ultimately about one big story that God is writing. This is the story of redemption. And all of our stories are reflections of the bigger story. This is the bigger story: that we were once separated from our Creator and in a desperate, dark place. In His loving-kindness, the God of Ages stepped out of heaven, down from glory, to enter in. He took all the sin and shame and died a death we deserved so that He could call us His own. And then came the third day. The morning that changed everything. Our Christ: now a LIVING HOPE. It is this that we cling to as we walk through our middles. He is alive, He is present and near to us, and He will return and restore all things. This is our hope. So let us walk in faith of what we know but don’t yet see, always in the middle until He returns.
In a conversation with my aunt about the Faith in the Middle project, she remarked, “I’m guessing that you have probably been blessed the most of anyone.” And she is correct. When God impressed upon me to do this project in June 2021, I couldn’t have predicted how much I would need it. There have been many trials this year, waters I have walked through and continue to, where I have turned to these stories, the truth, the scripture and the music shared to speak into my story.
So a massive thank you to the twelve ladies who courageously said yes to sharing their stories so vulnerably, for trusting me with their tears and their hearts. I will be forever grateful.
And thank you, readers, for joining us on this journey. All through this process, it was my prayer (and continues to be my prayer) that these stories would help you to look at your own story and see the faithfulness of God and His unique pursuit of you. And through my story and yours, to God be the glory.
So, now that Faith in the Middle is over, you may be asking, “Anne, what’s next?” It’s a question I’ve been asking myself and God a lot in the last few months. And as God often does, He showed me the common thread during my shower one morning this week. (I’m one of those takes-a-hot-shower-and-just-lets-the-water-run-over-her-back-for-ages…).
This past series highlighted for me the beauty of learning from other people’s stories and journey’s. As I said above, it’s fascinating to see how God meets each person uniquely where they are at. And so I’ve thought about bringing you more stories from others, or even turning over the blog periodically to others to write.
I’m also in a season with a lot of transition and change which by nature requires being open to learning new things: from learning new addresses, to learning how to work in a new kitchen, to learning new rhythms, to new joys and new griefs. I want to share those lessons with you.
Finally, one of the areas of growth Bob and I are working on with our oldest is developing a humility to accept she doesn’t know everything, and a love for learning. (This is a bit of an uphill battle… prayers are appreciated!) I was reminded last night that kids will learn less from a lecture and more from seeing something being modelled. So I want to develop the habit of asking her “what are you learning?” And sharing with her what I am learning too.
All of these ideas and focuses have come together into one idea. I’ve loosely titled this next season “Lessons Learned Lately,” and I look forward with each post to share some of my own lessons as well as those of others. I anticipate some being thoughtful and deep, and others being fun and light and humorous. But may we be left at the end of each knowing a little more about our God whose depths we will never know the end of.