When God takes what you cannot bear to lose…

I was recently working on one of the Bible studies I am doing (Believing God by Beth Moore) and the author discussed the miracles of healing that have occurred in people she knows. Discussion like this always open the old wound....why does God say no to some and yes to others....or as I have felt...why does He say no to me?
I remember vividly standing in the room with our dear family as our oldest son lay dying. I remember looking at him and thinking "God, you could heal him!" That day God said no. He said no to the dreams we had for that beautiful boy. He said no to my prayer "Lord the dead can't praise You!" He chose to take what we could not bear to lose.
But you see, God knows something that we have a difficult time understanding. Especially when we are hurting. God knows the best thing He can give us is Himself. God knew when He took my son and broke my heart and the heart of my children and husband that He would give us something that we may not have gained any other way. Those who have everything pulled out from under them and who see God through the eyes of searing pain are those who see God. It is much like Job said "My ears had heard of You but now my eyes have seen You." (chapter 42 v 5)
When God takes what you can not bear to lose......He gives you Himself and He bears it for you.

Held (written from memory, sung by Natalie Grant)
Two months is too little, they let go
They had no sudden healing
To think that providence would
take a child from his mother while she prays
is apalling
Who told us we'd be rescued?
What has changed and why should we be saved
from nightmares?
This is what it means
to be held
How it feels when the sacred it torn from your life
and you survive
This is what it is
to be loved and to know
that the promise was when everything fell
We'd be held
This hand is bitterness
You want to taste it let the hatred numb the sorrow
The wise hand opens slowly
to lillies of the valley and
tomorrow
If hope is born of suffering
If this is only the beginning
Can we not wait for one hour
Watching for our Savior?

(Orignally posted in 2009)

Sowing Seeds

 

 

I watched as my daughter dropped the corn seeds into the dirt.   A dried up kernel.  Buried.  I thought how amazing it is that this small yellow bit of nothing would, if given time and the necessary things of life, grow into a large stalk and would bear many, many kernels.   But this one kernel first must be covered with dirt.

We spent the day sowing seeds, the kids and I.  We buried, hoping for growth.  Believing that one would turn into many…

I thought this evening about how God gives us so much.  That He takes the little we offer, the one dried up seed, and grows it so tall.  I thought how we must be buried, we must die.

I think this post from A Holy Experience says it well…