Some years ago my son and I were attending a conference in Thailand where I was speaking. On January 3, 2009 as we were taxiing to the end of the runway for takeoff, I fell sick and lost consciousness. I awoke to the pilots words that we were returning to the gate for a medical emergency. I asked my son, Chip, if that was me and he said “Yes dad.” We were offloaded into an ambulance and sent to a hospital where I would spend 14 days, 11 of them in the ICU, and hovering between life and death on a ventilator. It was an awful time. 

I have my then young son’s diary from those days. One night when things looked particularly bad he wrote this prayer to God.

Lord oh God bring a dog to the fight

Lord oh God bring light to this night

Lord oh God bring your life to this fight

Lord oh God make right this plight

These were the raw words of my son who, when the chips were down and the outlook was bleak, was choosing trust over despair and putting that trust in the only one who had the power to bring me back from the brink of death. At the time I was suffering from massive pneumonia, system failure, septic shock, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, Congestive Heart Failure to name a few of my problems. Still he chose faith!

Faith and trust in God when life is hard and hope is scarce is a choice that we make. Some make that choice when life is hard. Others choose despair over hope. David always chose hope and trust when he faced insurmountable odds. In Psalm 23:4 he writes, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” 

Choosing trust and hope is often the hardest thing we can do. When my son speaks of those days he talks about living on “borrowed hope.” He literally had to borrow hope from friends back in the US who were holding him up in prayer and encouraging him. Sometimes that is what it takes to choose trust and hope over total despair. 

In times of distress and trouble, when events are out of our hands and we no longer have any control, when our resources have been exhausted and all we have left is God we remember the words of David. “I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Think about this. It is a great gift to come to the place where all you have left is God, because He is ultimately all that we need. 

Where do you need to choose hope and trust today? Remember, trust and faith are a choice we make based on the amazing God we know. If you have to borrow hope from another Christ follower, do so. But always choose hope and trust over despair and loss because God is with us in the valley of the shadow of death.

Father, I give to you today those issues that wake me up at night in anxiety. Remind me that trust and hope are a choice. I choose these today. Thank you that you walk with me no matter what my circumstance. And remind me that in the end you are all that I need. Amen.