TAKE some time in God’s Word and rest on His promises.
MAKE an art project.
BREAK something (on purpose but safely). This helps me with my anger. One year, it was bowling. This year, I think it will be our fall pumpkins but not in front of my kids!
PARTAKE in conversation with my children about their brother and questions they would ask him or God.
TAKE – MAKE – BREAK –
PARTAKE
In taking time in God’s
Word, I have recently been memorizing passages of Scripture. One of the first passages
I memorized was Micah 6:8. This verse comes to my mind often in my daily life and
is one of my favorite verses. “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And
what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, to walk humbly
with your God” (Micah 6:8 NIV). Sometimes I like to meditate on that verse. We
are mortals who need to see the good in God and humbly walk with Him. The
earthly idea of goodness and pleasure cannot be compared to God’s idea of
goodness and pleasure. There is no eternal good apart from God, only temporal
pleasure. When God created everything in our world, He said that it was good. “God saw
all that he had made, and it was very good” (Genesis 1:31 NIV). Do you think when Kenneth John was created God
said he was “very good”? I will definitely ask God that question someday. The
Bible also states: “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful.
I know that full well” (Psalm 139:14 NIV). Do you think Kenneth John was
fearfully and wonderfully made? I do. And so were you.
I recently asked God
why he would take my only son. He told me through the Holy Spirit: “I gave you
mine.” I immediately thought: Oh my goodness! (No pun intended.) Look what I
did to God's only Son, and conversely, look how He cares and loves mine in
Heaven. Ouch! What God chooses to do for us is good. God wants our ultimate good,
and thus, our ultimate good and treasure is in Heaven.
I often hear some
Christians saying that if you are looking forward to something, then you are
not content where you are. First of all, no one should be content in this
cursed, sinful world, let alone in grief. We are blessed to sometimes see and
feel glimpses of God’s glory throughout our lives, but the bottom line is that
looking forward to heaven does not mean that I am ungrateful. God literally
instructs us to focus on the glory set before us as we suffer in this world.
Colossians and Revelation are entire books of the Bible about looking forward
to Heaven. Why do we look forward to Heaven? 1 Peter states: “This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who
through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the
salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a
little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These
have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth
than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise,
glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed” (1 Peter 1:4b-7). Jesus
Christ is our living hope, and He paved the way for our future inheritance as a
child of God and an heir in Heaven. Hebrews 12:2 says “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith who for the joy set before Him endured the cross,
scorning its shame and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (NIV). How
did Jesus endure the cross? Other than the fact that He was God, He focused on
the future glory. Thus, thinking about heaven is not a waste. It should be our
life goal to be with Jesus, and there is nothing wrong with looking forward to being
with Him.
Until you feel and
understand the pain and suffering of this world, you will never turn your face
to God. Until you turn your face to God, you will never understand who He is. Until
you understand who God is, you will never understand why He sent His Son. Until
you understand why He sent His Son, you will never understand Jesus’s sacrifice.
Until you understand Jesus's sacrifice, you will never understand why Jesus
calls you to suffer. This is the GOOD within the suffering – God.
This year in my
suffering and grief, I will choose to celebrate my boy in Heaven and look
forward to meeting Jesus and my child someday. (Disclaimer: this does not mean that
I did not just spend a good portion of my day yesterday crying. Grief and
suffering stink.)
Finally, Lord, I pray
that I will always, always praise you for we are all “fearfully and wonderfully
made” (Psalm 139:14 NIV).
