When Christmas Isn’t Supposed to Be This Way: A 5-Day Reading Plan for Pregnancy LossSample

“The Journey Is Too Much for You”

Sometimes the emotional pain can be so intense that we forget to tend to the needs of the body. Whether in the tender immediate “after” of pregnancy loss, or the weeks, months, or years since, it’s always a good practice to do a check-in with yourself: How am I doing right now, and what do I need? How does it feel to be in my body? Am I hungry, restless, or in need of a warm cup of tea or a shoulder rub, or a good night’s sleep? Do I need to move my body or rest it?

Sometimes spiritual practice can be found in prayer and meditation, and sometimes it can be found in something as simple as a breakfast sandwich and a nap.

There is never a more important time to take care of you than on the heels of something very hard.

There’s an amazing story in 1 Kings that shows us how much God cares about our physical bodies and their nourishment, especially in difficult times. Elijah, a prophet of God, has been shaking things up in Israel by calling God’s people back to God, away from the god Baal they had made for themselves. Things reach fever pitch when the king and queen catch wind of what he’s doing and vow to stop his voice by ending his life. Elijah goes on the run into the wilderness, collapsing under a bush for shade and fearful sleep. It was so bad, he said to God, “I have had enough” (1 Kings 19:4) and prayed for his life to be over.

God’s response is remarkable: he sends an angel to attend to Elijah in the wilderness. The angels touch him—I imagine here a gentle hand on the back—and says, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you” (1 Kings 19:7). When Elijah got up, he found bread still warm from a coal fire, and water, and he ate and drank. The text says he was strengthened by this food, enough to make the journey to the mountain of God at Horeb, where we found safe harbor and slept in a cave.

We know what it’s like to feel depleted, emptied by grief, anxious in fear. We know what it’s like to say with our whole being, “I’ve had enough.” It’s a good prayer because it’s an honest one. And it’s a prayer that God answers.

I want you to imagine God saying these words given to Elijah to you: “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you” (1 Kings 19:7).

Experiencing the thrill, the joy of new life, only to learn it’s over before it had a true chance to begin—it’s too much.

Imagine a future together and a new shape of family life, only to realize this dream is not to be—it’s too much.

Grieving the baby you no longer have while others share their happy pregnancy news—it’s too much.

Facing the open question of whether a future pregnancy will be possible for you, or not—it’s too much.

From the mouth of God, and I hope you hear it—it’s too much. So let the God of all comfort care for you now. This is a God who is constantly calling us, through Christ, to take and eat. God has made provision for you in the wilderness and earnestly wants you to receive it. As you check in with yourself, consider what you need, what would feel like rest, and what might feel like nourishment. From the mouth of God: you are deserving of all care, especially now.