Sometimes life is incredibly hard and there’s no getting around it. There are times when you go to bed with a broken heart, certain that the earth has quit spinning, only to wake up the next morning and find that it had the audacity to keep going even though your world has stopped.
Have you ever experienced this kind of pain?
Maybe you were carrying your first baby and were thrilled that God gave you the desires of your heart only to find out that you had miscarried and the doctor wants to know when would be a good time to schedule the D&C. ~ No, Lord! There is no good time to let go of this baby!
Or maybe you have spent the past several years building your family, trying to keep things running as smoothly as possible and out of the blue your husband tells you that he’s filing for a divorce. ~ Please God, don’t let this be happening!
Or it could be that you received a phone call from the doctor’s office saying that they would rather you come in to discuss your test results. ~ Help me, Jesus! I need You now!
Or what if the unthinkable has happened and you are given the devastating news that your loved one is simply gone. Their life is over. ~ There was no time to even beg God for mercy.
This is part of My Story and it is now the story of a family in our community. A young man went on the football field on Friday night to play in his first high school game and he left the field fatally injured. It was a terrible accident. ~ How can this be, Lord? How could it have happened? It’s just a game and now lives are forever changed. ~ The family members and friends of the young man, his teammates and classmates, the opposing team members…all of these people have experienced their world stopping in an instant.
No matter the circumstance, it still remains that God is sovereign. Yes, you will hurt. Yes, you will cry rivers of tears (and you should!). Yes, your grief will threaten to paralyze you at times. But trust me on this: your God is faithful and you WILL experience joy again.
We serve a big God and He is big enough to handle your hurts and your questions. Take them to Him, like Job did. “If only my grief could be weighed and my devastation placed with it on a scale. For then it would outweigh the sand of the seas! That is why my words are rash.” (Job 6:2-3 HCSB) Call out and be honest before Him. God already knows how you feel, so give Him your pain.
After my brother, Jeremy, died it took me well over a year to begin dreaming dreams again. And longer still to sing “It Is Well With My Soul.” But day after day Jesus held me in His loving arms and slowly but surely made my soul well again. Eventually, I found that I wasn’t mad any longer that the earth was still spinning. It didn’t bother me quite as bad to see people going about their everyday lives, completely unaware of my pain. I finally submitted to God’s sovereignty and found solace in the Word of God, especially Isaiah 55:8-9:
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
and your ways are not My ways.”
This is the Lord’s declaration.
“For as heaven is higher than earth,
so My ways are higher than your ways,
and My thoughts than your thoughts.”
What’s even better is that a few verses later in Isaiah 55:12, we find a beautiful promise from our God:
“You will indeed go out with joy
and be peacefully guided;”
Yes, my friend, there may be pain in the night and your personal world may have stopped spinning, but rest assured there is indeed JOY in the morning and He will once again peacefully guide you.
Jesus, you know our hearts and the pain we are experiencing. Wrap Your arms around us. Take this wrong and make it right. Restore our joy. Amen.
If you feel comfortable, will you share your story? Please leave your response below.
Thank you so much for this message. It reminds me that one day I will be able to think of my Brother and my Dad without grief but with a smile on my face thinking of something one of them did or said. I have lost 2 of the most important people in my life in the past months and have watched my Mom suffer and grieve. Her health along with the grief has made her go down quickly. Please keep her in your prayers. For I know the way of the Lord and I feel God is near us as always he will hold us in his hands and love us.
Gracie, I will definitely be praying for you and your mom. It is true that grief can directly affect our health. Much love to you!
I know most know my story. I lost my sweet husband February 6, 2014. Learning to live without him has been the second hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. Saying see you later was the hardest (tied with having to tell KP her daddy was gone). I still have moments where the air is sucked out of me and grief is overwhelming. But I do know I will see him again. The song Save a Place for Me came out shortly after Phong left for Heaven & I felt like it was written just for me. I have experienced joy but yes the pain is always there too. Without God’s Amazing Grace I’d be lost.
April this article says the things I’m never able to vocalize. Thank you for sharing.
Leanne, I have thought of you often. I can’t even imagine your pain. Thank you for sharing your story. Your testimony to God’s amazing grace is beautiful. You are loved.
Pingback: Have Courage & Be Kind | April Rodgers
Pingback: When It's NOT the Most Wonderful Time of the Year | April Rodgers