Early on in our grieving process, someone approached me at one of my speaking engagements and shared their condolences, remarking that I should think of our loss as an “unwelcome privilege.”

 

I never forgot that phrase. But it can really only be thought of as a “privilege” from one perspective~ the sufferings of Christ. In three of my prior blogs—A Milestone~100 Months, A Week of Grief, and The Sealing Touch II—the ministry of suffering, I have quoted a statement by one who understood the loss of a child, for she lost two, and a husband, all at different times. Here is the last part of that statement ~

                                                       And of all the gifts that Heaven can bestow upon men, fellowship with Christ

                                                        in His sufferings is the most weighty trust and the highest honor.”

                                                                                                                                                                 {Desire of Ages 225}

 

This is the only way the loss of a child can be considered a “privilege,” even an “unwelcomed privilege” at that. It must be viewed in light of the sufferings of the Son of God.

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I’ve thought about the parents who do not know the Lord, yet who have lost a child, I cannot comprehend

how they could survive facing the experience of losing a child without relying on the divine One to carry

them through. It is only the sustaining presence of Christ and the knowledge that it is a “most weighty

trust” and “highest honor” to go through this experience which helps us taste a little more of the sufferings

of Christ for us.

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Now nearly nine and half years later, we can only thank God how He has sustained us over the years, in

spite of our loss. Life has continued on and as we reflect on what God has done over this last decade, we are

amazed. Never could we have imagined we would be involved in ministering to inmates incarcerated. Our loss has prepared us for it in ways we could not have estimated except by going through it. It is part of the ongoing “most weighty trust” and “highest honor” as we enter into the pain of others incarcerated who are now reaching out to God in requesting Bibles and spiritual material. But it also has been a stepping-stone in our advancement in the deep things of God during the process.

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                                                             Prior to it, we were focused on the 3-D campaigns (Don’t Drive Drowsy), until the Campfire of 2018                                                                    suspended it. Before we were engaged in 3-D, we had been telling our story through radio, TV ministry,                                                                and speaking engagements, not to mention our 2016 Hope for Hurting Hearts Benefit. All of it has                                                                      been preparation for greater responsibilities, the Lord has seen fit to entrust us with.

 

                                                             Today, (May 16, 2024) twenty-nine years ago we were so ecstatic to be the proud parents of our newly                                                                   ‘hatched’ baby May. What joy after nearly ten years of marriage, not planning to have any children. Yet,                                                                 as we were getting older, we thought, “we need to think seriously about…” So then we prayed if God                                                                     would see fit to bless us with a child. His answer:  Just have one. This is how the process began.                                                                                 Mercifully, the Most High hid the future from us. But as it has been said, Brianna was allocated 19                                                                         years, seven months and three days of life. Then she would rest until her reward be granted.

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God is interested in our eternal security and beyond that, eternal joy, this is why He permits tragedy and trial in this life, so that in our struggles and hardships here, we will “run with patience (endurance) the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.”  --Hebrews 12:1, 2

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We can trust the Most High in all aspects of life, for He knows what ultimately will make us satisfied and eternally happy. Let us trust Him, for it will be worth it all—all the pain, sorrow, sadness, and grief—in the end.