The Story
Momma, why are you crying?” asked the woman’s four-year-old son, the younger brother oblivious to the tears flowing down his mother’s cheeks.
Daddy responds, “Momma is sad. Let’s ask Jesus to help Momma find her happy again.”
Together, father and son–they prayed.
“Dear Jesus, help Momma find her happy again.”
Momma heard her son’s prayer. She blotted her tears. A smile began to form at the loving, thoughtful, and sincere words of her boy.
Momma, watching her boys, could see they were playing with their Superheroes; Batman, Spider-Man, Ironman, Captain America, and the Hulk. The Superheroes were actively busy taking down bad guys. Once the bad guys had been brought down, the boys moved on to something else. They got out their Monster Trucks and began playing with them. The eldest thrust a truck forward, it flipped, and landed upright on all four wheels. With a shout of glee, her son shouted, “Momma, did you see that?!”
Yes. Momma saw. With clear eyes, and a happy heart, Momma was seeing this truth: Whatever flips, turns, or trials, might come her way, she will land upright. She has a Superhero, Immanuel, God with her, fighting the bad guy.
By faith, she will persevere.
In the fifteen months leading up to the fire, my son and his wife had endured many trials and had endured each with great faith.
By faith, they had heeded God’s call and moved to Chicago, away from extended family, with a newborn and three-year-old.
By faith, they had successfully handled the Pandemic ensued challenges of working from home with two littles.
By faith they had calmly dealt with a flood damages brought to their home of five months.
And it was by faith they bought a farm and moved back home to Indiana.
Delighted in how they handled each trial, I will admit, I was deeply concerned for my daughter-in-law after the fire. She was seven months pregnant with Baby three.
My daughter-in-law—she did cry. She shed tears of frustration. But, by faith, she and my son persevered, and they came out stronger.
On this day, one year after the fire, reflecting on my dream in which I was a Monster Jam Rally, I looked up the meaning of rally. It means: to rouse from depression and summon up strength. Interestingly, rally can also mean to call-in extra forces to help fight a battle. In the story that developed after the dream, Superheroes were fighting the bad guy. My dream, and the writing, portrayed what I deemed my daughter-in-law’s needed.
In Isaiah 11:1, 10 the prophet tells us, “A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit…In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples, the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.”
A stump is all that is left of a tree after it has been cut down. Likewise, ashes are all that is left when things burn down.
Isaiah 61:3 says, “The Lord will bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.”
Had Jesus remained in the tomb, and not raised from the dead, we would all be doomed to an eternity of despair. But praise be to God, the Root of Jesse, Jesus Christ—He arose!
We all face fiery trials in one form or another, but, my friend, please get this, as we fix our eyes on Jesus, we can arise from ashes of despair. We can see HIS crown of beauty all around us, and for that, by faith we can persevere.
God allows certain situations in our lives to mold us. The Bible tells us to…
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” –James 1:2-4
It’s time to Rally to Jesus, and in Him, find the faith to survive the fires.
