But God adds or takes away life
Isaiah 38-39 When Hezekiah was well again [from a deadly illness], he wrote this poem. … “The dead cannot praise you; they cannot raise their voices in praise. Those who go down to the grave can no longer hope in your faithfulness. Only the living can praise you as I do today. Each generation tells of your faithfulness to the next.”
Isaiah 38:19, “One generation tells of your faithfulness to the next,” is one of the texts God used to convince me to write Karis: All I See Is Grace. I wanted grandchildren yet unborn to know about Karis, to feel in some sense that they knew her. I wanted to encourage their faith through her testimony of God’s faithfulness so personally treasured by her.
And the process of writing that book required me to take stock of my own life in a new way. Hope in the face of death dawned gradually from the darkness of grief. I wanted to help Karis communicate to a broader audience her experience of grace, to inspire others to hope in God’s love and care along with her.
I feel a bit sorry for Hezekiah. Jesus had not yet come to die and rise again, conquering death. The king had no vision of praising God in heaven. He thought physical death was the end. I hope his understanding deepened before he did die after the fifteen “extra” years God gave him.
I’ve just participated in a mission team retreat in the San Bernardino Mountains. We were challenged to write stories about our mission memories exactly for Isaiah’s purpose: to pass on to the new generation what we’ve experienced and learned. Last evening, we shared with each other some of the stories we had been writing. Such a rich time together! We barely began to plumb the depth of personal knowledge of God’s grace and faithfulness preserved in the memories of our team.
The OC International Ministry Team: rich in experience of God’s grace and faithfulness
Think about this: we have the holy Scriptures because the writers took time to write down what God inspired them to say. We have the records of believers through the millennia for the same reason. Our stories aren’t given to us alone. They are meant to encourage others.
We referenced several times this song by Steve Green. May all who come behind us find us faithful.
What would you like to communicate to your children and grandchildren, and their children and grandchildren? Oral communication is great. And writing and video can have even more generation after generation impact. Think about it! And if you’d like to share your story here, please let me know.
Debra Kornfield 