As moms who have suffered the loss of a child, we have experienced the worst tragedy a parent can imagine. I remember those early days wondering if I would ever survive after the loss of my son, Darin.
Soon into my grieving, I invited God into my ‘journey of grief,’ as I searched for meaning…processing questions of faith, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” and “What do I believe about God that will help me heal?”
Let me begin with an amazing encounter I had befriending a stranger while on vacation in Florida that became an inspiration for this message…
When I found out there was a couple from Oslo, Norway staying at a Villa not far from us, I. a Norwegian, was inspired to go over and introduce myself. After exchanging Norwegian greetings with Tom, the husband, he told me his wife, Lisa, was napping and not feeling well.
The next day I met Tom walking on the beach and asked how Lisa was feeling. He told me the sad story of Lisa’s cancer getting worse, and that they were flying back to Oslo in the morning to be be with family before she dies. I was so very sorry and asked if I could come by and say goodbye to Lisa.
What do you say to a stranger who is dying? All I could think was this…was God answering my prayer to use my story to help someone I would befriend in the month of March, the month my son Darin was born? “O my God, I need your help, I don’t know how to do this, but I’ll do the walking, if you do the talking.” So I stood up, followed my feet to the porch where Lisa was sitting, and heard myself say…”Lisa, I am so sorry to hear of your illness and what you are facing, but I’m here to say…we all have only today. You don’t have to be sick or old to die…my son was only 28 when he died. What matters is that we have made peace with God so that we are ready to die when our day comes.”
Using a little booklet I always carry, I shared the story of Jesus…how He came from Heaven to earth to show us “the Way” to make peace with God so we could have the hope of Heaven, when we die. I gave her the booklet to read on the long trip back home. I held her face in my hands and said, “Lisa, I look forward to seeing you again some day!” With tears in their eyes, they hugged me, thanking me for sharing the words of hope they needed to hear!
Through tears of joy, I returned to my Villa thanking God for giving me this amazing encounter to share the message of hope with a stranger that He put on my path and my heart…a stranger whose heart He had prepared to receive His words of hope.
So, here we are experiencing the bitter fruit of the pain and sorrow of living in a broken world, where bad things happen and death comes to good people. But, I can confidently say "There is HOPE!" God knew that giving man free will to choose would be risky, and was not surprised by what mankind would do with that special gift. From the beginning, God had a plan…a plan to redeem His creation and to “give us a hope and a future.”- Jeremiah 29:11. Out of His great love and mercy for us, the Father of our soul chose to offer us a second chance to choose Him.
And, so the God of Hope sent His Son to this sick and broken world to provide the "Way" back to Him. The cost would be high, but His Son was willing to pay the ransom to redeem us. This was the only Way to break the curse of sin and death, the only Way to restore our fellowship with God, our Heavenly Father.
God’s Word gives us Hope…as recorded in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.”
JESUS is the Hope of Heaven...The One who conquered the grave to give us the gift of salvation and eternal life, the One who came to "set the captives free," the One who came to heal the brokenhearted, and the One who came to restore our fellowship with God the Father.
This truth gives me great comfort and joy to know that this life is not all there is…that there is life beyond the grave, a place where there are no more tears, pain, and sorrow…a place where I will hug my son again!
My heartfelt prayer for every grieving mom is that we might have ears to hear Jesus tenderly calling our name, gently knocking on the door of our heart…that we would choose to open the door and invite Him into our heart to be the Savior and healer of our soul. These are the words of Jesus, who came to restore our fellowship with God the Father through faith in Him, the Hope of Heaven…Jesus said in Rev 3:20, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. Whoever hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and sup with him and he with Me.”
With the Hope of Heaven,
Helga "a mom like you"
Farmington, CT
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