Today is Easter! Happy Easter everyone. I hope you are all enjoying the fact that Christ Died so that we could have hope for a future; a future of perfection! Please embrace the meaning of Easter and enjoy some good food with your families.

My thoughts today couldn’t have come at a better time due to the season of Christ’s resurrection!

Thanks to alisina.org

Losing a child is never an easy thought let alone a reality. I can’t proclaim to understand the pain parents feel when they are clinging to their child helpless as ever. I felt a small amount of this when we took my son to the hospital recently begging the Lord to “Please!! Please, keep my son alive!!” My heart felt a pain I never wish upon any parent as they travel the road of uncertainty while doctors try and figure out what is so terribly wrong with them. The monitors screaming in your ears, the labored breathing and the helpless cry begging for you, as their parent, to save them.

I experienced enough of this tragedy to pray and plead with the Lord that I outlive my children and that they come to know Him as Savior. Please be gracious to me Oh Heavenly Father and let my children live a long, healthy, blessed life.

Knowing the sad reality that I know people in my life who have lost children and my husband being the lost child of his father. His grandparents never forgave the Lord for taking their son away. The bitterness and anger that sets in is, understandable. But the lack of dealing with the problem is inexcusable.

The song “Held” by Natalie Grant came on the radio as I was driving home from a lunch date with a dear friend of mine. This song brought me to tears as I thought about the life of losing a child. I felt a deep need to share this with you all as we all suffer immense tragedy in our every day lives yet strive for normalcy. It seems as I heard this song my mind flashed through literally everyone I know as they are all suffering deep pain longing to be ‘held.’

These were my thoughts on a precious friend who experienced deep pain in losing their loved one.

“I write to you as you are being held in the arms of Jesus; sweet precious baby. You are missed by everyone who knew of you. Just one year ago you went to heaven to be with Jesus. Your mommy and daddy are going through the motions of life trying to find answers, missing you, and longing to see you one day! The longing to watch you sleep while your fingers curled around mommy’s, grasping ever so tightly. Hearing your little giggle flow from your mouth, watching you take your very first steps and wave “bye-bye” for the first time is now but a dream. Your tiny little fingers, your precious button nose, your little eyelashes that curled so perfectly are currently in perfection with our Savior Jesus Christ. You were perfect and made into complete perfection the day you met Jesus.”

The question came to mind today what does it mean to be held in the midst of pain and trials of this world? “To think that providence would take a child from it’s mother while she prays, is appalling.” The unfortunate thing is that when the fall of man occurred Christ never promised life would be easy but that He would hold us when terrible tragedy hit. We survive the pain only to realize we are loved by Christ and that’s all that really matters.

“This hand is bitterness, we want to taste it” is exactly what happened to Eve in the Garden of Eden but more importantly what happens to us everyday. We seek the pleasures and answers of this world more than we seek the face of Christ. We often hold our children and spouses above the love of Christ and come tragedy, realize the depth of our need for a Savior. When God doesn’t answer our prayers we think we are doing something terribly wrong. “Are you praying incorrectly? Are your desires not God’s desires? What could I have done differently?” All these questions swarm your mind leaving you with doubt. These questions do not need answering, God simply wants your heart and love for Him and peace will follow. I said peace will follow! That doesn’t mean sadness will be taken away, tragedy is apart of life and in the midst of tears you can grasp the peace of Christ to only have a confidence that wouldn’t come if you were not a child of God. God’s way is not our way, and we tend to lose sight of that. It doesn’t mean He wont bring healing and blessings upon you, but it will probably look entirely different than you had imagined. More often than not, this reigns true over my life; it’s never how I envisioned.

There is a WHOLE spiritual realm taking place as we speak. We often forget about this when in reality this unseen battle is fighting for your very life. There are angels fighting the very demons that are out to destroy you and kill you. The bible tells us he is out to seek, kill and destroy and that is exactly what he is doing! BUT remember in the midst of tragedy God promises nothing touches your life without passing through the hands of the Father. God is allowing your life to play out exactly how he sees fit. There needs to be a confidence within that. He knows what is best for you.

Though we can’t understand why certain things happen to people, we can have confidence that trials and tribulations come in every sense of the word and do hit everybody. As much as this seems discouraging we know our hearts are being made more like Christ; transforming us into perfection. Something we can’t obtain without Him. If you are a follower of Christ, you will face trials of many kinds because Satan absolutely hates that you believe and seek after our loving Father. Our very thoughts need to be on Christ and not ourselves while asking the hundreds of questions and guilt that plague our every move. Sometimes there are no answers and all we can do is sit in the arms of Jesus and cry.

Moment of Truth: He is right here holding you! Are you receiving His love knowing one day there will be justice? Fight the battle, and fight it well.

The angels are fighting! Praise Jesus!