The Mystery of it all

 Somewhere around the 11th or 12th week of pregnancy my two daughters and I watched the first ultrasound of Cadence being done.  The mystery and beauty of God’s creation right in before our eyes.  We were spellbound by the tiny human being floating and wiggling before us on the screen.  Suddenly, the nurse practitioner blurted out, “There’s something wrong with this baby.”  Our hearts stopped beating, surely she hadn’t said that, nothing looked wrong, it can’t be were our collective thoughts and words.  That day began our journey, months of appointments, ultrasounds, tests, and meetings with many, many healthcare workers.  They told us the baby had a condition called gastrochisis.  In layman’s terms, her intestines were floating in the womb outside her body though an opening in her abdominal wall.  We met with the surgeon’s who assured us that 95% of these babies did well after surgery.  Only 5% did poorly.  The scripture verse: Psalm 139:13-14 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”  echoed in my mind.  Surely, I pleaded with God, you can heal this baby, so my prayers began to ring out heavenward.  At each appointment I was convinced that the mistake would be corrected.  Yet it was not.  Cadence Elizabeth was born on July 29, 2006 and wisked off to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with her intestines protruding out of a small whole in her abdominal wall.  Was my faith not strong enough?  Had God deserted me?  Why was this happening to our family? 

I have been progressing through a devotional book named “Hope” by Nancy Guthrie.  It is a year long devotional book, obviously on hope as the title indicates.  In it she used the following passage from Isaiah 55:8-9 to help me to begin to understand the answers to some of my questions. 

 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
       neither are your ways my ways,”
       declares the LORD.

 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
       so are my ways higher than your ways
       and my thoughts than your thoughts.

My question for the readers of this blog today is, as Nancy asked in her devotional, – “How can these passages help you accept the mysterious plans of God?” For me it is helpful to try to view life from God’s perspective, not mine.  His knowledge and wisdom is so much more infinitely greater than mine.  Who am I to question Him? His mysterious plans are far beyond my understanding.  He is sovereign.  Knowing and accepting this by faith has helped me tremendously.  Since this is meant to be a dialogue, what do you think?