Step Up in Faith in the midst of the Storm!

The following dramatic true story from Trisha Dyvig is found at Stand to Reason (str.org), a ministry dedicated to “train Christians to think more clearly about their faith and to make an even-handed, incisive, yet gracious defense for classical Christianity and classical Christian values in the public square.”

2010 was a year of many tears for me. Tears of joy and tears of great sorrow.

It began in June when my husband and I found out we were pregnant. We have two beautiful boys that we adopted as babies, but this was my first pregnancy. To say I was ecstatic would be an understatement.

Then our world came crashing down on us in September. I went in for my 18-week ultrasound and was devastated when I was told that my water had leaked at some point, that no fluid was left around the baby, and delivery was imminent. My first thought was just total disbelief. And then pure agony. What was God doing?

For the next seven weeks, I defied all odds and didn’t deliver. Then, on October 27th, at exactly 25 weeks pregnant, I was admitted to the hospital for what we hoped would be a nine-week stay. But shortly after I was admitted, the monitors showed I was having contractions and I was rushed back for an emergency C-section. That afternoon we welcomed our precious baby girl, Eliza Grace, into the world. Weighing in at only 1½ pounds and 13 inches long, she was incredibly tiny but perfectly formed. God in His great mercy had allowed me to sustain my pregnancy to the point that I got to meet my daughter and see how He had fearfully and wonderfully made her.

The NICU staff fought hard for her, but after an hour of being worked on, we were told she was not going to live. They unhooked her tiny body from all the tubes and wires and placed my baby on my chest. And that is where she spent the next three hours, until she quietly passed from my arms into the arms of her Heavenly Father.

Eliza’s short life impacted me dramatically. I have been a Christian since I was young, but I’ve never really been challenged in my faith—until I was standing at the grave of my baby girl. At that moment, I had a choice to make. To turn to the One who gave and took away, or turn away from Him. And I chose to cling desperately to my Father. I got into the Word with a new fervency. It was no longer just words on a page, but truth and life.

As I sought to learn more about God through His Word, one thought kept popping up over and over—this isn’t how it is supposed to be. But I came to conclude that nothing in this world is. Too often as a Christian I get into the habit of thinking I deserve good days and easy paths. But that isn’t what God has promised me. As I read the Word, I saw numerous times how faithful Christians suffered and the ultimate suffering of Christ on the cross. Suffering and pain are part of this fallen world. But those of us who trust in Christ can have great hope that God is using our pain to draw us closer to Him. I’ve taken great comfort from 1 Peter 1:6-7, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” God is using this tough time in my life to bring me to Him and shape me into who He wants me to be. It hurts, but I trust that it is for my good and His glory.

I am the oldest child of my parents, but not the first born. Dennis William Ashpole was born several years before me but, tragically, lived for only a year. His death was devastating to my parents and their loved ones. They could have been filled with bitterness, accusing the Lord of not caring for them: “Why didn’t You spare Dennis’ life?” Instead, at the graveside my dad, a Bible College student, begged the Lord to let him faithfully labor for Christ’s Kingdom and accomplish for Him what Dennis now could not do. The Lord answered that prayer and blessed and multiplied Dad and Mom’s ministry. They labored faithfully pastoring a number of churches in Minnesota, Arkansas, and here in Hawaii as well as travelling the world, especially the South Pacific, to declare the Good News of salvation through Jesus Christ.

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This Sunday, March 15, we will continue our series “Step Out in Faith!” with the powerful study, “The Other Side of Faith” (Hebrews 11:35-40). Please invite someone to join you in the building or online for the Live broadcast on either Facebook (Honolulu AG) or our YouTube channel (Honolulu Assembly of God). We Livestream every Sunday to both locations and would love to have you join us – either in person or online!

Coming Up: Palm Sunday is March 29 and Resurrection Sunday is April 5. Our next Fellowship Lunch (potluck) is scheduled for Sunday, April 19, after the 10:30am service.

Aloha ke Akua!