{"id":1051,"date":"2021-09-24T09:03:07","date_gmt":"2021-09-24T13:03:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=1051"},"modified":"2021-09-24T09:03:07","modified_gmt":"2021-09-24T13:03:07","slug":"a-prayer-in-the-darkness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2021\/09\/24\/a-prayer-in-the-darkness\/","title":{"rendered":"A Prayer in the Darkness"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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When author and pastor Timothy Keller released a new book eight years ago, he could not have foreseen how dramatically he would personally be living out the title: 

Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering<\/em>

In June 2020 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  Since then his life has revolved around physician consultations, therapeutic strategies, and a great deal of prayer.

Keller concluded each chapter of his bestseller with someone\u2019s first-person account of struggling with pain and uncertainty.  Here are excerpts of a story provided by a woman identified only as Emily:

\u201cIf you had asked me what I was thankful for before September, I would have said that I am thankful for my family, my home, my job, and for God \u2013 for a husband who loves and cares for me, for four children (ages 14, 11, 9, and 5) who are healthy and happy, for a home I never dreamed I could have, for a career that allows me to work from home, use my brain, and make a difference for my company and my clients, and for a God that has provided me those things \u2013 regardless of my worthiness.

\u201cIn September, completely out of the blue, my husband left me and our four children for someone else (who left her husband and two children as well).

\u201cThis other family were friends of ours; we\u2019ve vacationed with them on three separate occasions during the summer.  I thought they were our friends.

\u201cMy heart died within me.  This could not be happening.  My Christian husband \u2013 the one who with me sat down with our kids and explained that while divorce does happen, it would never happen to us \u2013 we made a covenant, a promise to God and to each other \u2013 no matter what \u2013 we will always be here for each other and for them.

\u201cI sobbed and begged him not to go, that we would figure this out.  No, he was leaving\u2026

\u201cAfter four months, God is beginning to heal me in a way I\u2019m not sure I want to be healed.  I want to see justice, but it is not mine to inflict.  I am beginning to try to pray for him\u2026not about him.  I am beginning to pray for his heart to be healed.  For him to come back, not to me but back to God.

\u201cI need to move on without him, for now and maybe forever, but I have to forgive him to get through this bitterness.  I will not be bitter for the rest of my life\u2026

\u201cI am going to forgive him, but I won\u2019t forget \u2013 because if I forget, I won\u2019t be able to use what I learn to help others who may go through this nightmare.  I need to feel the pain, allow God to heal that pain and transform me into someone that he had intended for me to become all along.  Somehow, I feel excited.  It feels wrong in so many ways \u2013 to be excited to be going through this nightmare\u2026

\u201cI have explained it to my children like this:  In every fairy tale, there is always a tragedy, and the protagonist faces that adversity, overcomes it, and thrives because of it.  God is giving us our fairy tale \u2013 what do you see at the end?\u201d


A Prayer in the Darkness<\/strong>

Lord God, <\/em>
When can I wake up from this nightmare? <\/em>
If this is indeed a fairy tale, let this be the darkest part.<\/em>
Restore my confidence that I will laugh again one day, and that you will rebuild my hope.<\/em>
More than anything else, please let me see your face.<\/em>
For as long as I know you are with me, I can walk through any darkness.<\/em>
In the strong and compassionate name of Jesus I pray,<\/em>
Amen.<\/em>

(\u201cWalking With God Through Pain Suffering,\u201d \u00a9 2013, Penguin Books)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When author and pastor Timothy Keller released a new book eight years ago, he could not have foreseen how dramatically he would personally be living out the title:  Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering In June 2020 he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  Since then his life has revolved around physician consultations, therapeutic strategies, and a great deal of… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1052,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[18,179,112],"class_list":["post-1051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-hope","tag-prayer","tag-suffering"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1051"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1051\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1053,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1051\/revisions\/1053"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1052"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}