I grew up in a loving family, with a mother and father devoted to helping me make the most of life despite my disability. They were together on everything, except for one crucial issue. Although my mother took me to church and shared her faith in Jesus, my father wasn’t a Christian. Yet his whole life revolved around Christian principles such as “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” When I behaved like a typical lazy teenager, he quoted the proverb “Go to the ant, thou sluggard. Consider her ways and be wise.” Dad’s problem was that although he believed Jesus was a good man who walked the earth teaching Godly principles, he wasn’t convinced of his deity, or his power to rise from the dead.
Dad’s health started deteriorating in 2012, and in the late summer of 2017, the doctors warned us his time was running out. Of course I pleaded with God for his healing, but more than that, I longed for Jesus to open his eyes to the truth of the Gospel.
By September, Dad was bedbound and getting weaker by the day. Once, his heart faltered and we thought we were losing him, but he had an important decision to make. On 11 September 2017, my father-in-law visited his hospital room, and Dad finally surrendered his heart to Christ.
The next couple of months were bitter-sweet. Dad was too weak to read the Bible, but he told us he prayed every night, and he had a new peace despite his suffering. Still praying for a miracle, we planned a different kind of Christmas. Dad might not be able to sit with us around the table, but Mam would still make his favourite sherry trifle, and we’d enjoy sharing love and making memories.
However, Jesus knew best. Perhaps in his divine wisdom, he realised one last Christmas would prove to be more than we could bare, so he took Dad quietly and peacefully home to heaven at the end of November, and our last Christmas with him became our first without him.
One prayer had been miraculously answered. I knew my father was saved. When I think of him now, I have the assurance that he’s in heaven. Yet he wasn’t healed this side of eternity, and I still miss him every day.
If this Christmas season finds you struggling because of unanswered prayer, I have no empty platitudes to offer. If you’re hurting, confused, angry, or grieving, I’d simply like to suggest that the best thing you can do with all those emotions is to lay them at the foot of the cross. Be honest with Jesus. Pour out your grievances and frustrations because he can handle them. He’ll cope with your honesty, but please, don’t shut him out and stop praying. Don’t listen to the snarling voice of the enemy, telling you Jesus doesn’t care. Allow your Saviour to wrap his arms around you and whisper his tender reassurances of love.
Prayer.
Dear Lord, today I pray for those who are struggling because of unanswered prayers. Please help us remember that even in our most painful times, you still long to be close. May we lean on you, even when our minds are clouded by grief and confusion.
Song: Somewhere in your Silent Night by Casting Crowns.
Scriptures to ponder.
Isaiah 55: 8-9: ““My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.”
Philippians 4: 6-7: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”