Surely he has born our griefs and carried our sorrows, Isaiah 53:4 NKJV
God is so good. Last week I wrote about joy (Faith and Joy). May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that by the power of the Holy Spirit, you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13 (NLT). I didn’t know then what was in store for our family, but He did.
My son and his wife were excited to go to the 20 week ultrasound appointment, pregnant with my 11th grandchild. The scan looked great. She was doing amazing. Only two days later, things would change. Unfortunately, things shifted and beyond anyone’s control, our little Madelyn Rose was born too early, July 9.
Five different doctors and specialists all declared, “we don’t know why this happened”. But it did. So now we readjust our thoughts, hopes and dreams and choose to trust His plan and purpose.
As we walked this journey, praying for miracles and God’s help and wisdom, the scripture that came to me was Psalm 23:4. Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. We will not let bitterness, doubt enter our hearts, even though we do not understand the “whys” of the outcome.
Sorrow is hard, but it is part of life here on earth. Jesus, our dear Savior, was called the “man of sorrows”, in Isaiah 53:3. It is comforting to know He understands our sorrow as well. He walks with us in our sorrow if we let Him. We know there is coming a time where he will wipe every tear from their (our) eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. Revelation 21:4.
We, as a family, will mourn for her—for the potential life and joy she would have added to our family. But we will not forget her, and we trust her brief life will have fulfilled God’s purpose.
I don’t have to like it, but obviously we have to accept it. We will trust Him to bind up all our wounds and begin restoring our souls in a way only He can. Our other option is to let anger, frustration and disappointment take over. Mistrust in God’s goodness to seep in and pollute our hearts. Not a good thing. We have seen firsthand how damaging these negative emotions, when not processed well, can hurt relationships and our souls. So we will fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, trusting that this trial will produce good fruit. James 1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work. Many times we don’t allow patience to produce good fruit because we want all the answers now, and that, my friends, is not how life always works.
So pray for us. I know we will experience this rocky journey of grief, but we will make it. Even Madelyn’s siblings will be at peace and trust in our good God. Thank you and as we walk this path, joy will come and be our strength.
Father, we declare you are a good God, doing good things in our hearts and lives. I thank you for using this extremely difficult loss to show us your goodness. Get every good thing you can from our pain, in Jesus’ Name. Help us to comfort others as you comfort us. Amen.
Faith Encounters 