Even If He Doesn't

Over the past several years I have come to realize many of the promises of God are not for this earth. Just like every human who walks this planet, I have been faced with grief that has shattered me to my core. I stood next to others when their lives were ripped to pieces. Some days I smash my face to the pages of His promises asking just what are these plans He knows?

"The eternal God is your refuge and His everlasting arms are under you." Deuteronomy 33:27a

I have knelt down next to lifeless ones I love pleading for healing. My heart and soul have wept desperate cries for restoration to obliterated relationships. Then the searing pain of silence when requests seem to be ignored. But then I read again.

"The ETERNAL God is your refuge and His EVERLASTING arms are under you."

This is a promise not of this earth, but of something far beyond the grief that is here and now.

"...If we are thrown into the blazing furnace the God whom we serve IS ABLE to save us...

BUT EVEN IF HE DOESN'T

it wouldn't make a bit of difference..."

Daniel 3:16-18 NLT/MSG

In the darkest moments imaginable, whether in my own life or praying over someone else's, these words come back to me over and over. "He is able...but even if He doesn't..."

"I have refined you, but not as silver is refined, rather I have refined you in the furnace of suffering."

Isaiah 48:10

Will I see this grief as a promise broken or an eternal promise waiting to be fulfilled?