Grieving With Hope After Miscarriage And Loss By Adriel BookerНамуна

Day Seven

Hope of Heaven

Scripture: Isaiah 43:2

Sometimes we think of Jesus as the “nice guy” who’s covering for a God we can’t understand. We secretly accuse God of causing us to suffer, despite the incarnation that shows us the opposite is true: God himself was born into our mess so he could turn it upside down. He didn’t make the mess. He didn’t “allow” the mess. He overturned it and redeemed it. 

Suffering can be the exact thing that brings you into deeper communion with Christ because that’s how redemption works: It makes dead things come alive. It lights up the dark with his light. It brings about good from what was started by evil. 

This is our promise for suffering: In our deepest anguish, he is there, present. And at the bottom of our sorrow, he is working to make all things new. We may not see the resolution of this promise in the ways or time frame we’d like, but that doesn’t negate his redemption plan: resurrection, new life, no more tears, the hope of heaven. 

Don’t ever think you’ve been abandoned in your pain. Don’t ever think he will allow it to be wasted. Don’t ever think what seems broken or lifeless can’t be reworked and transformed to birth life. Don’t ever think your lament is in vain. Don’t ever think hope is dead. 

God is present, weeping with you. He is active, shaping history toward ultimate redemption. Resurrection doesn’t render death as inconsequential; it means that death doesn’t have the final word. 

God didn’t take your baby. Death entered the world through the free will of humankind. Life entered, again, through Jesus Christ. 

Be assured, friend, that even your most awful sorrow is not beyond God’s redemptive reach. He can, does, and will draw near to you in your suffering; he can, does, and will bring meaning to it. He’ll release his grace to the exact measure you need and will use every means possible to redeem your broken heart. This is his promise.

Suffering may weaken you, but let it also awaken you as you open your heart to hope, possibility, and presence. May you find Jesus in the deep.

As this devotional comes to an end, consider writing out your own story of loss. Include as much detail as you can. Try to resist writing about lessons you learned. Let this simply be an exercise in telling your story. And then, as you do so, ask Jesus to show you his presence throughout. Give him your story. . . and ask him to keep writing.