The New Eve - Lewis Robert [37]
Expects God's Greater Reward
All choices promise reward. That's just their nature. We choose one option over another because we weigh the potential rewards (outcomes) of each and decide which we like best. For instance, imagine you are a college student and tomorrow you have final exams. What choice will you make tonight? You can go out with the girls and have fun, or you can find a quiet corner and study. Both choices promise reward, and both deliver. Choose to go out, and you are rewarded with good times; choose instead to study, and you are rewarded with a good grade that gets you a step closer to graduation and a good job. In the long run which is the greater reward?
Or how about a harder example? Imagine you live in Honduras. You're married, and though you've tried for years, you are unable to have children. No amount of prayer has changed that. Then a social worker comes to your door. She says there is an infant at the hospital—a malnourished boy who is six months old and weighs only eight pounds. He was born to an eleven-year-old indigent girl who had been raped by a seventy-two-year-old man. Shock and anger rise on your face, and then the social worker asks if the baby can come live with you so that it can die in a loving home. “There is no hope that he will survive,” she says.
That's the situation Vera Grafals once faced. She longed to have kids, and in fact, God had been speaking to her about turning that longing toward needy children, but this seemed like too much. “Here I've always wanted a baby,” she said, reflecting back, “and suddenly God is asking if He can give me a baby to die in my arms!” It was a hard decision, but Vera knew God had been preparing her. So she took the boy into her home.
She had been told what to expect, but still it was hard watching the baby. He didn't move, talk, or even look around. He merely lay on his back, staring blankly. The lack of nourishment in his earliest weeks had likely damaged his brain, the doctors said, and would be the cause of his early death. Vera tried hard not to think of these things as she cuddled and fed him. She decided to name him Samuel—the name she had always wanted to give a boy. She sang to Samuel, loved him, and waited for him to die.
After a few days, however, changes happened. He began to stir to life. His dark eyes began to focus and show signs of recognition and understanding. Was little Samuel trying to beat the odds? But exactly as hope dawned for Samuel, Vera discovered she had breast cancer. To get the medical treatment she needed, she and her husband, Wally, would have to move to America. Suddenly, the needy little boy in her care was mixed in with her own desperate situation. A decision had to be made. Taking Samuel to America would mean officially adopting him and taking ownership of the inevitable expenses and hardships that come with caring for a special-needs child. Could Vera and her husband handle that at a time when her own life was in danger? Again she was faced with a difficult choice, and again she followed God's leading in her heart. She and Wally adopted Samuel, boarded a plane, and came to America, hoping to find life for both mother and child.
That was ten years ago. Today Samuel is a charming, perfectly normal boy, and Vera is cancer free and serving God through her gifts of compassion and service to children. But Vera's story didn't start with her knowing the end. It started when she made a series of difficult choices, trusting God's leading in her life. The potential downside of each decision was clear, but by faith she moved forward, expecting God's greater reward for choices that had no guarantees on the front end.
Hebrews 11:6 says, “Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.” Faith applies to all of life's decisions. But the best faith is faith that believes God will reward those who believe His word with far more than this world can give. Ask Vera Grafals.