There is no guarantee here on planet earth
I heard on the radio the other day that someone is trying to ban window blinds that have cords so children will not choke to death on them. Now don't get me wrong, I am all for protecting children and cannot imagine the horror of losing a child. But you all, we cannot walk around in bubbles, there is no guarantee. You can live a life of faith in God, try to take care of your health issues, and not drink or smoke and die in an accident while driving a truck full of wheat on a one lane dirt road. You could drink a pot of coffee everyday with your bacon and live to be 97. Or you can run marathons and carefully watch what you eat and die of pancreatic cancer.
Chloe asked me the other day what my biggest fear is and I told her that it was that something bad would happen to her and her sisters. She said, "My biggest fear is you dying." I wanted to say that won't happen, or I will always be here for you but that would be a lie. There is no guarantee. I could live to be 98 or I could have died from melanoma this summer.
People have said to me that it isn't fair that this happened to us, and the thing is there is no such thing as fair. We didn't deserve it and neither does anyone else that experiences loss or sorrow.
I am reading a book about a lady who lost her baby to rare a fatal baby syndrome. After this, she was faithful to God and trusted in him, and she got pregnant again with a baby with the same fatal syndrome. Sometimes what happens to us doesn't fit with our idea of what we think a good God will do in our lives. God doesn't owe us, that isn't biblical. His followers throughout history have had many heart breaking and terrible losses.
Nancy Guthrie, in her book, Hearing Jesus Speak into Your Sorrow says, "The assumption that God should give faithful believers a comfortable life and certainly no more than one dose of sorrow, seems to be an American made version of the Christian life that doesn't hold up on examination."
God says blessed are the poor in spirit who realize their need for him, blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. You are blessed when you call out to him in your time of need. (Matthew 5:1-12 ish) However, he doesn't say you will be comfortable or that you will not experience sorrow, it says that you will receive your reward in heaven. Here on planet earth we will experience sadness, happiness, loss, grief, heartache, love and a whole range of things good and bad.
What I have learned, is that it isn't about what's fair or what might happen next, although I do spend time worrying about that. Hey I am only human. It is all about how we choose to respond. I have my days, hours, minutes where I am on the floor sobbing and being sure it is all for naught. Just last night I was at a complete loss over a sick cat. I thought God, please don't make us go through something else. Please heal this cat. And I know that he can and that the cat could get better. I also know that the cat could die and we would be sad and not understand why we have to deal with one more thing. The cats were supposed to be something healing for the girls and I. And now they could be a new source of sadness. But the other thing I know is that we can deal with it. We would cry and bury her and wonder what other bad thing will happen next. But we would make it through because we are strong, because we can do hard things and because we have faith that no matter what he is by our side.
So, I pick myself back up off the floor with God's help and say okay, what is next? I choose to find joy between the sorrow. I choose to ask God for his plan so that I can make the most out of the hand I have been given. When we choose to live life for God and to use what has hurt us for the betterment of other people then we find victory over the grief. We can find victory over our loss.
Chloe asked me the other day what my biggest fear is and I told her that it was that something bad would happen to her and her sisters. She said, "My biggest fear is you dying." I wanted to say that won't happen, or I will always be here for you but that would be a lie. There is no guarantee. I could live to be 98 or I could have died from melanoma this summer.
People have said to me that it isn't fair that this happened to us, and the thing is there is no such thing as fair. We didn't deserve it and neither does anyone else that experiences loss or sorrow.
I am reading a book about a lady who lost her baby to rare a fatal baby syndrome. After this, she was faithful to God and trusted in him, and she got pregnant again with a baby with the same fatal syndrome. Sometimes what happens to us doesn't fit with our idea of what we think a good God will do in our lives. God doesn't owe us, that isn't biblical. His followers throughout history have had many heart breaking and terrible losses.
Nancy Guthrie, in her book, Hearing Jesus Speak into Your Sorrow says, "The assumption that God should give faithful believers a comfortable life and certainly no more than one dose of sorrow, seems to be an American made version of the Christian life that doesn't hold up on examination."
God says blessed are the poor in spirit who realize their need for him, blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. You are blessed when you call out to him in your time of need. (Matthew 5:1-12 ish) However, he doesn't say you will be comfortable or that you will not experience sorrow, it says that you will receive your reward in heaven. Here on planet earth we will experience sadness, happiness, loss, grief, heartache, love and a whole range of things good and bad.
What I have learned, is that it isn't about what's fair or what might happen next, although I do spend time worrying about that. Hey I am only human. It is all about how we choose to respond. I have my days, hours, minutes where I am on the floor sobbing and being sure it is all for naught. Just last night I was at a complete loss over a sick cat. I thought God, please don't make us go through something else. Please heal this cat. And I know that he can and that the cat could get better. I also know that the cat could die and we would be sad and not understand why we have to deal with one more thing. The cats were supposed to be something healing for the girls and I. And now they could be a new source of sadness. But the other thing I know is that we can deal with it. We would cry and bury her and wonder what other bad thing will happen next. But we would make it through because we are strong, because we can do hard things and because we have faith that no matter what he is by our side.
So, I pick myself back up off the floor with God's help and say okay, what is next? I choose to find joy between the sorrow. I choose to ask God for his plan so that I can make the most out of the hand I have been given. When we choose to live life for God and to use what has hurt us for the betterment of other people then we find victory over the grief. We can find victory over our loss.
Comments
Post a Comment