It Is What It Is

And it’s so much more than it seems.

by Lori Ann Wood

Igingerly pushed open the door marked 108a, terrified of what I might see on the other side. She beckoned me in from her hospital bed with a blunt acceptance, “It is what it is.”

My friend of 25 years had just been diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gehrig’s Disease. She had fallen and broken her foot, and in investigating the cause, doctors discovered the devastating culprit.

Before I visited, I had to do some research. According to the ALS Association website, “ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. There is no cure. Once ALS starts, it almost always progresses—taking away the ability to walk, dress, write, speak, swallow, and breathe—shortening the life span.”

I noticed my friend’s familiar, well-worn Bible on her bed table. Countless times she and her husband had stood at my own hospital bed, and at the bedsides, curbsides, and gravesides of others. As Abraham and Sarah, they had so often comforted outsiders on their journey. Like Abraham, the father of our faith, my friend and her husband have parented hundreds, if not thousands, along their trek to belief. In all those similarities, I had a strange notion that God was abandoning her now. And I feared she felt it, too. Her words cut into my own fragile faith that day.

“It is what it is.”

Abraham may have uttered those very words, or at least harbored those sentiments.

Not long after three travel-weary strangers entered the door to Abraham’s tent, they prophesied that he and Sarah would be parents within a year, reiterating God’s earlier promises of a robust lineage. Nearly a century old, Abraham knew his own physical limitations. Somehow, his faith remained intact.

“Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised” (Rom. 4:19-21).

In that ordinary hospital room, my friend began teaching me Abraham’s three extraordinary faith lessons.

Authentic Faith Starts with Honesty

“It is what it is.”

Her five simple words stung inside my ears. After hearing them, I couldn’t deny the reality my friend was living. I couldn’t comfort her. I had no Scriptures. No words of wisdom or even of hope found their way to my tongue. The situation seemed decided and done. I thought her faith was faltering. I bit back tears, wondering why God would do this to his long-faithful daughter.

It is what it is.

Though perhaps in less tragic ways, we have all been there. The circumstance is true. The diagnosis is accurate. The helplessness is real. At that point, our only choice is to turn to the Helper. It’s all You now, God.

It’s where every Christian walk begins—accepting the reality of our utter brokenness. Without that realization, faith has no place. Without acknowledging our hopelessness, we have no need for a Savior. That acceptance doesn’t put God out of business. In fact, it is essential for His work to fully develop.

In 2 Cor. 12:9, Paul recounts God’s response regarding his own painful thorn, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

From Paul’s suffering and from Abraham’s example, we know we can face the crushing facts of our lives and still trust that God is at work. I can accept this harsh reality for my friend, and still believe in God, in His salvation, and in His ultimate healing. All the better for God’s glory to be revealed.

Physical Circumstances are Only Part of the Story

Weeks have passed since I first visited my friend in the hospital. They have discontinued physical therapy due to lack of progress. Through it all, she continues to minister when this life isn’t going according to her plan. As she waits for what exists outside of door 108a, she accepts that she can no longer use her legs.

Her hundreds of friends have no words.

But she does.

She writes careful, lengthy letters to each young grandchild, highlighting their unique gifts and strengths, difficult as it is becoming for her to type.

She posts on social media while she still can. One of her posts: “Morning is God’s way of saying one more time, go make a difference, touch a heart, encourage a mind, inspire a soul, and enjoy the day. Are you ‘in’?”

The fragile woman in that hospital bed continues modeling a faith-filled life, thoughtfully weaving a legacy that will long survive us all. As God defines her circle of influence, she works within it. Her tent’s door is forever open to lives that will follow her.

Abraham also knew about living beyond his own physical life.

Abraham was promised the whole land of Canaan; at his death all he owned was a cave. Abraham was promised that he would be the father of a multitude; at his death all of his sons, but Isaac, had been sent away. During his life, he saw only the beginning of the promises God had given him fulfilled, but Abraham trusted that He who began a good work in him would see it to completion. Abraham left a legacy that outlived generations of physical lives.

My friend and Abraham both knew that God’s plan extends far beyond what we can see or even what we can personally live out. Each of our stories reaches deep into eternity—part of it here, as we leave our legacy in others, and part of it with God as our soul continues on.

As believers, we press into the hope that “what it is” is not all that it is.

Faith is the Door to Peace

All those years—of believing, teaching, mentoring, and telling—started to work when the diagnosis came in. This faith-driven woman looked the unrelenting situation in the eye. She proclaimed God is in control, God is sovereign, and God is caregiver. She lived what she had so long professed.

She will be released soon to her home now remodeled to accommodate a wheelchair. Her beautiful wood floors transitioned for wider openings. Her carefully decorated bedroom is outfitted with a hospital bed.

Each visit with her becomes easier, and yet harder at the same time. Most days I just provide time and my presence because words still seem too small. Like Abraham on his promise-filled journey with God, she takes it one day at a time, one door at a time, and one divine appointment at a time. While I want to see all the way to the end of the hallway and behind every door, my friend has an uncanny ability to accept God’s provision for each day. She continues teaching me—even in this unfathomable trial.

I hear her words each time I open her door, “It is what it is.” And now, each time I smile. Because in my heart I hear God add, “But it’s so much more than what it seems.”

Lori Ann Wood serves as founding leader of the Parenting Education Ministry at the Church of Christ in Bentonville, Ark., WomenHeart Champion Community Educator, and American Heart Association Ambassador. Lori Ann’s work has been published in numerous print and online venues, including The Christian Century magazine and Pepperdine University Press. Lori Ann and her husband have three children and live in Bentonville, Ark. Read more from her at loriannwood.com.