The Solid Rock

The snow has arrived. The only thing that makes it tolerable for me (sorry to my snow loving friends!), is how beautiful it is! That and it isn't very cold yet. One of the many things that this weather isn't conducive to, is traveling. One of my doctors is about 5 hours away so we have had to travel back and forth multiple times through the mountains where the weather is fickle and changes so very quickly. We have to watch the weather very carefully on travel days, sometimes just barely managing to stay ahead of a bad storm. Sometimes, we have to cancel our travel plans completely when the mountains are impassible. When we can travel, the long drive makes for plenty of time to think. This is not always a good thing but for the most part, it gives me plenty of time to do it, good or not. 

Ah, driving on a beautiful, crisp day when the roads are bare and dry and the sky is clear and calm is a great feeling. Everyone on the road seems to be just a bit more calm and relaxed. Us too.

The views are spectacular! I can't help myself and I take multiple pictures of my favourites (yes, I have favourites!). This one especially. It is up near the summit and it stands out above the tree line so majestically. I can't tell you how many pictures I have of this one (sorry Ben!). On a beautiful day, this stretch of highway is absolutely stunning. In bad weather? Well, there is a TV show about how dangerous it can be.

This is that same mountain on our way home. The conditions had changed drastically. We were very thankful to have made it through when we did. What got me thinking, and sorry if this is so obvious to everyone else, is that even though the conditions on the mountain had changed, the mountain itself hadn't. A storm was about to rip through there. The trees, tested by the wind, their boughs heavy with the weight of the snow, will struggle under the enormous pressure. Weakened by age and disease and the sheer strength of the storm, some will break. Fire could ravage it and completely change the topography but underneath all of it, is the mountain. Solid rock. When I think about where I want to be in a storm, besides looking for shelter of course, is on something solid. Something that doesn't change regardless of the size of the storm. Something that is always bigger than the storm. A solid rock. For me, that Rock is Jesus. I am so thankful that no matter how hard the wind blows, how battered and bruised I may look from the storm, underneath me is Solid Rock. Even if the storm should break a part of me, still I will stand, held firmly in place by the Mountain beneath me.

Through the many chat and online support groups I'm part of, I meet so many sad people. My heart aches for them. Children, mothers, fathers, grandparents. No one is immune. Their stories float in my head at night and keep me awake. So much sadness and loss. Sometimes I feel guilty for feeling well when so many suffer so much.

Sometimes I feel like we are all walking together through a dense forest. It is dark and we can't see the way very well, sometimes, not at all. I feel scared too. Scared of the unknown. Scared of the known. But then I catch a glimpse of a little light shining through the trees. Just a little speck of light and I hope. I hope that it will lead me out to the other side of these dark trees. And when I emerge on the other side of these trees, I will walk out into beautiful, wide open spaces. No more storms, just full sun and I will feel the warmth of it on my face as it lights up the path, not only for me but for everyone else around me as well. 

My Hope is Jesus.

Not the latest statistic. I won't have to worry if I have done enough or if, through the myriad of ever changing and sometimes contradictory information out there, I have found the right way.  

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteous. I dare not trust the sweetest frame but wholly lean on Jesus' name. On Christ the solid Rock, I stand; all other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand. 

We work to find answers and struggle to find the balance between doing what we can and accepting by faith what others have done for us, all the while knowing that we only have half of the answers to an equation that changes constantly. Am I taking the right supplements? Is this one good for all cancers or just some? Should I eat this? Or not eat this? Is this the right protocol to follow? Or maybe this one? Should I follow this person's advice. Or this one's? Is this chemo right for me? Did I remember to take it?

When darkness seems to hide His face, I rest on His unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. On Christ the solid Rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand.  

When I read the heartbreaking news of other people's realities, when I see the struggle of those left in the wake of this terrible disease, mothers, fathers, children, spouses, friends, I am overwhelmed. I know this pain intimately. It is, at times, unbearable. 

His oath, His covenant, His blood, support me in the whelming flood. When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my Hope and Stay. On Christ the solid Rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand.

And yet, still I hope. I hope for the day when I will walk into the Son and feel His warmth on my face. I don't know yet if I will be able to manage this disease or not. If I will walk out of this storm on this earth or not. I try not to think about every unfamiliar ache or pain as the beginning of the end. I go back and forth between thinking I finally have some understanding to not even being able to comprehend a simple sentence, even though I've read it multiple times. All I can do is hope in Him and surrender my will to His. And stand firmly knowing that for me, He is enough. He is enough! 

When He shall come with trumpet sound, O may I then in Him be found! Dressed in His righteousness alone, Faultless to stand before the throne! On Christ the solid Rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand. 

All other ground is sinking sand.

I'm taking a short break. I want to be fully present with my family this Christmas. I am oh so thankful for this season when we are reminded what Love, true Love looks like!  The reason we have any hope at all. 

Immanuel, God with us. 

~ The Solid Rock ~

My hope is built on nothing less, 

Than Jesus' blood and righteousness.

I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

but wholly lean on Jesus' name. 

On Christ the solid Rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

All other ground is sinking sand. 

When darkness seems to hide His face, 

I rest on His unchanging grace.

In every high and stormy gale,

My anchor holds within the veil.

On Christ the solid Rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

All other ground is sinking sand. 

His oath, His covenant, His blood,

Support me in the whelming flood.

When all around my soul gives way, 

He then is all my Hope and |Stay.

On Christ the solid Rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

All other ground is sinking sand. 

When He shall come with trumpet sound,

O may I then in Him be found!

Dressed in His righteousness alone,

Faultless to stand before the throne!

On Christ the solid Rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand.

All other ground is sinking sand. 

Words: Edward Mote, 1834

Music: William B. Bradbury, 1863

The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom

 I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

Psalm 18:2