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When a woman named Angi realized that her marriage had come to an end – that her husband had really left her and wasn’t coming back – she wondered how she could possibly survive the pain.
Even after the judge declared the finality of her divorce, she couldn’t bear to remove her wedding ring.
As Angi recounts in Tim Keller’s book Walking With God Through Pain and Suffering, her trust in God began to implode.
She screamed at him, “I could never watch someone I love suffer like this and not stop it! You say you love me but I can’t square that with what I see happening. This feels cruel. I’ve got to know you are who you say you are or I cannot go on.”
The next morning she happened upon Psalm 62:11: “You, O God, are strong, and you, O Lord, are loving.” Strong and loving. The two things she most needed.
Sometime later she finally slipped off her wedding ring. She made a decision to give to God the devotion she assumed was always going to be reserved for her husband. “You alone are worthy of my whole heart’s trust, and it’s yours for the rest of my life.”
As she slipped into bed she thought, “I should get myself a new ring to remind me of this vow I’ve made to the Lord tonight.”
The next day she huddled with a group of women with whom she had been meeting regularly for prayer. She made no mention of her resolution the night before. Angi recalls:
During the time of silence with which we always began, I noticed one of them coming over and kneeling in front of my chair. She took a ring off her finger, held it out to me, and said, “I feel like the Lord wants you to have this ring. He wants you to know that you are his beloved, and he is betrothing himself to you for the rest of your life… He will be with you forever.”
The ring she received that morning, as Angi describes it, was “more beautiful and valuable than any ring I would have gotten myself.”
In the years since then, whenever she glances at the ring, she feels calmer. And less lonely. And comforted in her grief.
Angi wanted a ring to remind herself of her commitment to God. What she got instead was a ring to remind her of God’s commitment to her.
The world is a difficult place, and we may struggle mightily to keep our grip on God.
But he will never release his grip on us.