My Only Answer

What’s the question? In this hard life, whatever it is, my only answer is His name.

Maybe that sounds naïve, or banal, or even just plain phony. “God is all you need”? Not true, since He Himself didn’t design human beings to exist as solitary creatures. And while it’s certainly correct that our God knows best, it doesn’t make His will easy to accept and/or perform. If you doubt that, remember Jesus’ agony in Gethsemane.

“ ‘One answer fits all’ is only true if it’s the right answer.” —Unknown

So how can His name come to mind and drop from my lips as the only answer in a wobbly world? Especially since I don’t even understand the questions half the time.

Like when a few weeks ago a young woman—practically a daughter to me—was told that the child she’s carrying may die or be born with as-yet-undiagnosed abnormalities.

Her other child turns eight years old soon, so she’d been so excited about the long-hoped-for new baby. Radiant, in fact. “You’re expecting another ‘grandchild’!” she told me.

And now she begs, “Counsel me.”

Dear God, I don’t know what to say.

So we both just sit and weep together for a while.

Not to resemble Job’s miserable comforters, I toss out no clichéd counsel. But to stammer that I have no answers may not be exactly accurate. After all, the Word of God is full of answers.

Although we don’t always want to hear them, and we rarely like them. It feels like treating deep wounds with shallow platitudes.

Droplet Gift #48: In a world weary of light, trite answers, I will offer only the Name of the Lord.

So my friend and I cling to each other and to Jesus. The only answer I can think of comes in an image: “The name of the Lord is a strong fortress; the godly run to him and are safe” (Prov. 18:10, NLT). Only one refuge remains in the midst of this storm—the Name. We can flee there and find protection, safety, comfort.

In Old Testament times, the Israelite people so revered the holy name of Yahweh-God that they didn’t say it directly at all. Fearing to speak His name “in vain,” they used the phrase Hashem, “the Name.”

I could only answer with His Name. He is the Wonderful Counselor, not me. He is the Mighty God, able to do anything. And He is El Shaddai, the All-Sufficient breast on which to rest our souls. For “the Eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Dt. 33:27).

His name is Adonai and Jehovah-Shalom, the Lord and Prince of Peace. Our harbor of peace amid terror and confusion. He is Jehovah-Shammah, the God who is there. Here. Now. Even when he seems to have disappeared.

Questions

After the tears—maybe between tears—my Chilean “daughter” and I talked about a lot of her questions. Her doubts and dilemmas.

• Why us? Why not someone else? I know that’s not right, but…
• Should we keep praying for miraculous healing? What if that’s not God’s plan? How will we deal with that?
• What do you think about abortion?
• How can I endure the long wait of this pregnancy?
• Do I dare to hope?

She is afraid. She is sad. And she is impatient for solutions.

But I am also full of unanswered questions.

We discuss her fears for the future, the uncertain months ahead. While I have never faced a situation in which my child faced severe illness or imminent death, I experience a taste of that bitter cup now.

“I just want to challenge you to look at this whole predicament…not as a curse, but an opportunity God’s entrusted you with, to walk by faith and not by sight, to let Jesus’s light shine in you. It takes faith, maturity, to swallow a bitter pill without becoming sour, to suffer…without becoming cynical… And one way or another, your response will have an impact on the people around you.” –Cole Peterson in Pursuit of the Pudú by Diana Delacruz

In our family, we quote this little sour-grapes addition to the Beatitudes: Blessed are those who expect nothing, for they shall not be disappointed. We say it with a twist of wry humor, but ouch, it borders on cynical, right? And maybe unworthy of people of faith.

Yet I don’t want to be disappointed. I dread disappointing her.

I bet you can fill in the blanks with your own questions, though.

• What do you pray when you flounder…in family worries and financial woes, trouble and tragedy, disillusionment with people and life in general?
• How do you pray at all? When you feel lost, without hope or a future?
• How can we surrender to God’s will when it’s not even evident what that is…yet?
• Is God even listening? Or has He deserted me?

Answers

Despite my lack of grand explanations, people still seem to ask. Somehow we’ve been taught to believe that if we do everything “right,” then life will turn out “right.” Comfortable, easy, at least easier.

“The easy answers are a cruel substitute for God himself. We live in an age abounding with talk and answers and faith in education, technology, counsel, moral programs, and spiritual techniques. The answer is: See God.” –Unknown

But I can only answer, it doesn’t work that way. “He sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Mt. 5:45, NAS). “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer…” (2 Tim. 3:12, NLT). “The righteous person faces many troubles…” (Ps. 34:19, NLT). Though we are supposed to live in hope—defined as expectation, anticipation and confidence—yet we often hold unrealistic expectations. Of what we’re going to receive, of how things will turn out, of what God or others might do for us, of what answers to prayer should come.

Except… the faith of Hebrews 11 doesn’t always lead to perfect earthly bliss, physical security, fulfilled expectations, rich rewards, answered prayers, and glorious celebrations.

“You can be pitiful or powerful, but you cannot be both.” –Joyce Meyer, Battlefield of the Mind

For sure, the Bible has answers, even a theology of suffering. Where are those helpful books? You know, maybe Philip Yancy’s Where is God When it Hurts? Or When God Doesn’t Make Sense by James Dobson.

But I’m on the phone with my friend now. The books must wait for another day. She wants a hug, a shoulder to cry on, and some brownies with peanut butter frosting. So I don’t spout cruel optimism and super-spiritual suggestions. Only a whisper of encouragement and a reminder of Whose we are, Who He is, and the power of His name (Jn. 17:11).

The Only Answer

Another lovely friend, struggling through deep waters of her own, recently shared that her favorite phrase in the Bible is: “BUT God…”

• “The righteous person faces many troubles, BUT the Lord comes to the rescue…” (Ps. 34:19, NLT).
• “The wicked plot against the godly…BUT the Lord just laughs, for he sees their day of judgment coming” (Ps. 37:12-13, NLT).
• “…We were utterly helpless…BUT God showed his great love for us by sending Christ…” (Rom. 5:6-8, NLT).
• “Once you were dead because of your disobedience…BUT God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that…he gave us life” (Eph. 2:1-5, NLT).
• “You know how much…suffering I have endured…BUT the Lord rescued me…” (2 Tim. 3:11, NLT).

His Name makes all the difference.

My young friend’s husband echoes my only answer: “We’ve talked a lot about trusting God before. If we can trust Him at all, we can trust Him in this, too.”

Sometimes we have to keep trusting the Name even when it seems like a good time to bail on faith. Because what is our faith worth if it vanishes like morning fog as soon as the fierce sun blazes over the mountains? Or it sinks when “sorrows and sea billows roll” over the soul?

We journey on from the trials of faith in Hebrews 11 to the triumph of Jesus’ name in chapter 12. “Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter” (v. 2, NAS) of our life stories, the Great Answer to all the questions.

“There is a hope that doesn’t ever disappoint, but…only one—the hope that God will save us, and that He is saving us, that He will make all things right one day, and that He is making things right even now… It takes a strong character to practice hope in a dark world and not give in to helplessness or cynicism. But hope is not a sham; as long as our hope is in God… In the end, we won’t be disappointed.” –Liz Ditty, God’s Many Voices

So I have only one answer, but do I need more? He knows the rest. If things are still broken, it’s not the end.

Later…

Four months into the pregnancy, my dear young friend miscarried her baby—just last week, a few days before Mother’s Day. Her heart is broken. It’s going to take time to mend, and even then…?

I take her pink roses and Toblerone and listen. And cry some more.

But not many questions. She knows the answer: His Name is Everlasting Father. She’s never known a father—he’s never figured in her life—so she calls my husband Papi. But her Heavenly Father will stick around forever. He never fails, forsakes, forgets, falls asleep, or overfills His schedule. She can run home to her Eternal Abba, who lives in a Strong Tower of loving refuge.

“You have turned my trials into a testimony.” –CJ and Shelley Hitz, 21 Prayers for Writers

And she knows it’s not the end of the story yet. The little one’s name is Amaia Milagros, and I’m sure we’ll meet her someday. Amaia has several meanings in different languages, but I like the Hebrew: “Close to God, God’s refuge.” And there’s no question what the Spanish Milagros—“miracles”—means.

A miracle “granddaughter” awaits me up ahead.

Lord, don’t take me home…until I trust the power of Your name completely.