"And Elijah went up to the top of Mount Carmel. And he bowed himself down on the earth and put his face between his knees. And he said to his servant, "Go up now, look toward the sea." And he went up and looked and said, "There is nothing." And he said, "Go again, seven times. And at the seventh time he said, "Behold, a little cloud like a man's hand is rising from the sea."....And in a little while the heavens grew black with clouds and wind, there was a great rain." 1 Kings 18:42~45A special refuge that has been a great source of strength in times of difficulty has been prayer to God. Prayer has not been one of my best disciplines, in fact, I think I am just now learning how to pray. I suppose that journey will continue until I meet Christ face to face. Another source of comfort, in regard to praying for my sons, has been from the example of true heroic mothers. One of those mothers is St. Augustine's mother, Monica.
"At the age of sixteen in 371, soon after his father's death, Augustine sneaked away from his mother in Carthage and sailed to Rome. "During the night, secretly, I sailed away, leaving her alone to her tears and her prayers." How were these prayers answered? Not the way Monica hoped at that time. Only later could she see the truth of Jesus' words worked out in her life~that praying is the path to deepest joy. "And what did she beg of you, my God with all those tears, if not that you would prevent me from sailing? But you did not do as she asked you. Instead, in the depth of your wisdom, you granted the wish that was closest to her heart. You did with me what she had always asked you to do."
Later (many years later), just after his conversion, he went to tell his mother what God had done in answer to her prayers:
"Then we went and told my mother (of my conversion), who was overjoyed. And when we went on to describe how it had all happened, she was jubilant with triumph and glorified you, who are powerful enough, and more than powerful enough, to carry out your purpose beyond all our hopes and dreams. For she saw that you had granted her far more than she used to ask in her tearful prayers and plaintive lamentations. You converted me to yourself, so that I no longer desired a wife or placed any hope in this world but stood firmly upon the rule of faith, where you had shown me to her in a dream years before. And you turned her sadness into rejoicing, into joy far fuller than her dearest wish, far sweeter and more chaste than any she had hoped to find in children begotten of my flesh."
Such was the lesson Augustine learned from the unremitting travail of his mother's prayers. Not what she thought she wanted in the short run, but what she most deeply wanted in the long run ~ God gave her "joy far fuller than her dearest wish." "Ask, and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full" (John 16:24)
From "The Legacy of Sovereign Joy, God's Triumphant Grace in the Lives of Augustine, Luther, and Calvin" by John Piper.
One of the highlights of Thanksgiving this year was helping my mother decorate her Christmas tree. They have recently retired and made their new home in Flagstaff. We had not spent the holidays together for well over 10 years.
