When you’re in between a rock and a hard place

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Today some of my dear friends in the blogging world stop to honor and encourage a beautiful and brave woman of God. Our sweet sister-in-Christ, Desiré from When You Rise, will soon give birth to her third son, Caleb. This little boy is a precious gift from our Heavenly Father who has a long road ahead of him. He was diagnosed with a severe congenital heart defect and will almost immediately undergo the first of many surgeries to help his little heart work properly.  As we anticipate his arrival, we want to take a moment to celebrate this new life as well as encourage our sister Desiré as she prepares for the days ahead. Would you join us in praying for Caleb? You can stay updated on his journey by “liking” the Facebook page, Pray for Caleb.

Dear friend,

I was reading in Ephesians this week and thinking about you. I was thinking about that space you’re existing in these days – that teeny-tiny space between that rock over there and that hard place.

I can’t imagine how hard it is to breathe, let alone how you manage to stretch your legs and walk in the day’s events.

But I was struck by Paul’s posture in this book – knowing that he, too, must have had his legs tucked tightly under him as he scribbled his letter to the Ephesians in the darkness of his prison. Maybe his back hurt, like yours, having pressed it up against the cold wall of his cell to wait for God’s Spirit to whisper the next few words in his ear.

Paul knew pain, agony, intense disappointment. The story of his suffering is well documented for us. So, is his response to life’s difficulties. That’s why I find it so interesting that he opens his letter with these words in verse 2: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Later in the chapter, we discover how it is that Paul – who was physically wedged in a painful situation – could send such charitable words to his friends.

He writes in Eph. 1:15-21:

^“15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, ¹⁶ do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: ¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, ¹⁸ the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹ and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power ²⁰ which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, ²¹ far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.”

Paul prayed that his friends might know the “exceeding greatness” of God’s power in their lives – the very same power responsible for the resurrection and exaltation of Christ.

So, dear friend, I hope this Easter season you are able to reflect on the power of God made manifest in the resurrection of His Son. But more specifically, I pray “that you may know…what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe…”

The power of God “toward us” is this: The same God that raised Christ from the dead will raise you – and indeed already has – from the darkness of this age.

Paul says so in Eph. 2:4-6:

⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶ and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 

I can’t imagine how you feel. I can’t even imagine what you need to hear from me. All I can do is point you to Paul, who pointed others to the power of Christ by way of the resurrection. Because Christ was stuck behind a rock once. And we all know how that story ends.

One day, dear friend, you will no longer sit in that dark place anymore. In fact, the sense Paul gives us is that day is already here (2:5). I will cling to this truth along with you – that God has already touched you with his power and raised you out of that pit to sit with him.

The beauty of this verse is that we will only see more of God’s power as our days unfold. So, whatever it is that you’re feeling as you walk around in that spot, please don’t feel powerless.

Because God’s power is at work in you, and He will remain at work in you until that uncomfortable space has been crushed under the foot of our King.

So dearest friend, for fear of bungling the right words, all I’ll say is: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

In His Power,
Melissa 

Check out these bloggers also honoring Desiré today!

• When a Loved One is Sick by Christina from To Show Them Jesus
• When you Have to Walk by Faith by Kristen from Celebrate Every Day with Me
• The Bravery of Caleb by Jessalyn of Desiring Virtue
• Home Missions: Letter to the Helpless Mom by Emily from Redeemed Reader

Thank you Creation Swap for the awesome stock image!