Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His promises.”
To hold tightly means to hold closely and firmly. When we move without wavering, we move in a confidence, sureness and readiness in our course of action. The definition of hope is a feeling of expectation of what God has promised and strength in His faithfulness. When we affirm something, we state it as fact strongly and publicly. I think our West Coast Conference showed how this verse came alive. Each one of us who worked so hard to make this West Coast Conference happen never wavered even when obstacles were put in our path. As the clocked ticked and the conference drew nearer, it seemed all the planning that was done still revealed tiny nuisances. These little aggravations can slowly pick away at your joy. It reminds me of a bird slowly picking at its prey. Yet with all the last minute changes, things we thought were taken care of or we just plain forgot, even then, we kept our eyes on the prize knowing who we put our trust in.
After each conference I come home amazed. There is no other place where I watch miracles unfold right in front of my eyes. His faithfulness and presence is revealed all weekend long. We are about the Lord’s work and He does what He does. I am sure each one of us had many moments where we saw God at work.
I had a front row seat Friday night as the Lord did what He does. I was in line waiting to make a dog tag for my husband. I was talking to a mom I had known from other conferences who was in line for a dog tag too. She looked down at the table and saw photo copied pictures of Jesus holding a baby. She asked me what those were for. I told her those were for moms who never got to hold their babies. She turned to me and with tears in her eyes, she told me her story. She had lost a baby in vitro years ago from the hands of an abusive husband. The loss of her living child had brought up memories of the loss of this tiny baby she never held. She had been going to a counselor who had told her she needed to grieve for this little one. So in that very moment, I told her she needed two buttons.
When I hugged her on Sunday, she had tears in her eyes once again. These tears told a different story. She pointed to her two buttons that she wore with great love. She felt like this weekend had opened up that bruised heart that had laid dormant for so many years. She felt like a load had been lifted. She had faced all the feelings that had been tucked away for many years. She was so grateful.
I wonder if behind this mom’s button there is a back story. My guess is there are many back stories behind the miracles we witnessed. I don’t know who copied those pictures of Jesus holding a baby. I wonder if it was a last minute thought. Was this mom running around busy as a bee preparing the supplies for the button making? Did she have little birds nipping at her trying to steal her joy? This woman heard a still small voice. A still small voice that told her to copy this picture. So she listened and copied. She copied this picture for this mom. This mom who had tucked her hurt away for all these years. This mom who on this very weekend was ready to finally put to rest this hurt, this pain. Whoever brought that picture had no idea what healing could come from such a small thing. A mom’s feelings of hurt and loss were validated. The very miracle she needed.
In all the business of preparing and the little nuisances that crept in, each one held tightly without wavering that God would keep His promises to us and He did. My guess is He did even more than we will ever know.
– Michele
