I hate being sick. The weakness, the pain, the feeling of being behind on everything while simultaneously feeling like you can’t get out of bed. As with every seemingly negative thing in life, I try to see Jesus in it. I have realized that the last week or so I’ve been praying for those with chronic pain and illness much more than I usually do. Something about the reminder of what those people feel every morning when they get up makes me come before the Father with the realization of how hard that must be.
I have also been thinking much about Kara Tippetts this week as I’ve been sick. I started following Kara on her blog Mundane Faithfulness shortly before her death in March of 2015. She had been fighting cancer for a couple of years already, and was so good at sharing vulnerably but also with continued hope in Jesus through all of the pain. The night I found her blog, I stayed up until the wee hours of the morning reading back through the years of blog posts and following her journey. Days later, I saw the announcement that she had finished her fight and gone home to be with Jesus. And I wept and mourned as if she had been a real friend rather than someone I had gotten to know simply through her writing.
I think about how hard it must have been to be a momma to four kids and a wife who wanted to be there for all the small moments in her family’s life, but also had limited strength and energy. And to want to give to others in her life rather than being taken care of herself. On top of the pain, the discouragement and the exhaustion, Kara just loved life and wanted to enjoy it in all its simplicity.
Since that time, I have read her books The Hardest Peace, Just Show Up, and others. I give them to people often, especially when they are walking through suffering or helping others who are. Kara's struggle through the cancer and treatment has taught me so much. She shows (and not just teaches, but actually lives it out) how to suffer well—how to keep coming back to the focus on Jesus even in the middle of what seems insurmountable because He is where strength is found. She talks of working through her disappointment at having to leave the party early when she realized she was dying and God was calling her home. But always through it, she came back to the One who holds her peace.
This week a new documentary is coming out about Kara’s life, (you can get it here) and I can’t wait to soak it in. It isn’t a film you look forward to because it’s all fun, but it is a happy ending. Even in death, Kara found the One for whom her soul longed. She realized that although she was leaving before she wanted to go, He knew best and would care for her family in His incredible love. And now, I can imagine her running through heaven, probably barefoot and enjoying the wonderful smells of the flowers and sights of beauty there.
I hope that you will consider watching this film, and if you don’t want to buy it for yourself, let me know and I’ll loan you my copy. You can watch the trailer here. I am not receiving any sort of affiliate compensation for promoting it—I just think it will be that good.
And whatever the struggle of your life is today, I hope you will look through it and see Jesus standing with you. We’ve all got them—some big and some small. He hasn’t abandoned you no matter what pain surrounds you, and He is stronger than anything that comes at you. Let us press on to know Him in whatever calling He has brought today.
I am convinced that any suffering we endure is less than nothing compared to the magnitude of glory that is about to be unveiled within us. Romans 8:18
