Women in Crisis

Last weekend I attended our church's women's retreat, and its theme was "Women Shaped by Crisis."  The content, as well as the guidance for personal reflection, was powerful, and I was encouraged to see the solid faith and courage God had given these women as they faced heart-wrenching challenges.  I could go into detail about their stories, but the punch line was the power of trusting God to redeem and transform horrible things that happen.  Not in a smarmy, cheesy way that denies the gravity of what someone is going through, but really coming to know God's goodness that is deeper than our circumstance.

"La Bible - Tamar Belle-Fille de Judas" by Marc Chagall.

Though there were plenty of tears, we enjoyed laughter together as well, and I came home tired but grateful for the two days of worship, friendship, and reflection.  Coming home, as so often happens, immediately made the theme more real.  Suddenly, life was not as neat and tidy as it had seemed at a conference center in the mountains, where we showed up to 3 meals a day on the table, snacks offered at all hours, entertainment, schedules, and cleaning all provided for us.  I came home to a very sick husband (fever, probably some version of the flu).  After a couple of hours of getting him fed and taken care of, I reluctantly went to church.  There, a woman who has been worshiping with us for a few months came into the chapel saying she desperately needed prayer.

(stock photo, google images)

She decided to leave the overnight shelter where she had been staying.  Now, she sleeps on the sidewalk.  She is handicapped, using an electric wheelchair.  She is disconnected from any family, including her 5 children.  She feels desperate and each day just wants to survive, cover her basic needs, and get to the next day.  Her story is complicated and sad.  She did not ask us for solutions or for money, but she did ask for our prayers and friendship.

That's the hard part.  You can't fix crisis-- your own or anyone else's.  Hearing personal testimonies and lessons about God's faithfulness for two days did not temper the sadness I felt on hearing our friend's story.  She was - and continues to be - a woman in crisis.  She does not have many options.  My only hope is in the God who redeems our imperfect options.  Whether Tamar, Rahab, the widow of Zarephath or our friend in her wheelchair, God enters into unlikely lives.  God knows crisis.  And sometimes we know God best when we have no other choice - when we are caught in times of crisis.