Saturday, 29 November 2008
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When Tragedy Strikes
Read 2 Kings 4:18-37
I have often been puzzled by the reaction the woman in this passage had. Her son dies in her arms and she places his body in the room of Elisha where no one is likely to go to look for him. The husband's reaction to her request for a donkey seems to indicate that she did not tell him of the boy's death. She simply says "It's alright." She, then, tells the servant not to slow down unless she says otherwise. When Elisha's servant, Gehazi is sent to her, she still insists that everything is alright.
When she reaches Elisha, it becomes obvious that not everything is fine. With great anguish in her heart, she grieves that the son that God had miraculously given her (see 2 Kings 4:8-17) has died and, voices her fear that her hopes have been raised only to end in tragedy and disappointment. Knowing Elisha to be a man of God, and having faith that he would have something to say or do about it, she spoke no complaint to anyone else, but whent straight to the one whom she knew could do something about it.
In life, hardships come. Friends leave us. Loved ones die. Sometimes God may even ask us to give up the very things He has promised us so that we can learn to put our hope in Him and not in someone or something else. Sometimes we can put our hope more in God's promise than in the God who promised it. When Job lost everything, one thing that he said was that the Lord gives and He takes away. But he immediately followed that with "Blessed be the name of the Lord!"
Likewise, we should have faith to be able to say with sincerity that "everything is alright" even when trials come. We should take our complaints straight to one who can do something about it. I am beginning to realize that it speaks volumes about a person to know who they take their problems to first. If we do not first turn to God for the answers, then could it be that we are letting our friends or ourselves stand in the way of our communing with Him?
"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God." - Philippians 4:6
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Comments (4)
This is a good reminder for me tonight. One of the hardest things I've dealt with this year has been my daughter leaving for college next year (Godwillingly)..but even now, she doesn't need me as much as she has before. It's hard to fathom that the one thing I did not want, became the best thing that ever happened to me in my life (I had her a week after my 20th birthday. I had almost had an abortion. Was separated from an abusive and unfaithful husband...having a baby was the last thing I wanted). But ever since the day I saw her for the first time, she has been my glimpse of how awesome and good God really is (and His amazing grace when we deserve it the least). He really does work out everything for His glory and our good...even our failures and mistakes.
The last couple of years have been the hardest, knowing I had to let my Molly go and trust God to work in her life more. Sometimes it almost seemed like the door was being slammed shut in my face; there have been some really rough and discouraging times. Sometimes I just felt like giving up completely because raising Molly in Christ had become my life and I knew nothing else. Then, out of nowhere, God sent this wonderful Christian man to me (another Matthew). It's the most awesome, but also most heart-wrenching thing because my Matt has a brain tumor and is very weak and sick a lot. However, God is still awesome and worthy of praise whether he will be healed or not. I never imagined in my wildest dreams that God would give me another glimpse of His grace like He had done with Molly. Some days I'm overwelmed beyond belief and often I cry uncontrollably with tears of joys. It's unbearable to even think about losing our loved ones, but somehow even as hard as that would be, I do believe God would give His children the strength they needed.
@YouTOme - I had a cousin who was a "waterhead baby". He would get brain tumors from time to time. He passed away a few years back and was 4 years younger than me. I know he couldn't communicate it well but that kid was smarter than most people thought. He was musically brilliant and could play things by ear that he had heard. I sure do miss Chris.
@Matthew_6_33 - oh interesting..i never heard that expression before and didn't know of a condition like that. that is very sad, but yes, it is amazing the kind of capabilities people have which aren't always as appreciated or visible to others.
You said, "Sometimes we can put our hope more in God's promise than in the God who promised it."
It had not occurred to me to express it that way, but I think this is all I was able to do at first when my 20 year old son died. I couldn't wrap my head around the why of it, but I knew the promises and clung to them minute by minute.