“I don’t want my child to ever feel one ounce of pain.” Those were the words a friend shared with me.
I know, mama, but what if God has a purpose in their pain? What if he is refining them, making them holy, and using their disappointments to draw them to himself. What if we protect them so much, that they never look to God, but rather to us, to make them whole?
That’s a job I am not qualified for.
Of course we don’t want to see our children hurting. We would gladly take on their disappointments, their failures, their pain because that is what mama’s do and when our children hurt we do too.
The fragile places of a mother’s heart drive us to the cross and it’s there that I’ve prayed prayers like that too.
“God, please heal my baby. God, please guide my child. God, please reveal yourself to my son. God, please help my daughter make good choices. God, please keep my children safe.
When God creates a baby in the womb of his mother, she becomes his greatest advocate.
She can’t imagine that anyone could love him more. She can’t imagine that anyone delights in him as much as she does.
But God does.
And sometimes, in his great wisdom, he allows a little pain.
And sometimes, in his great wisdom, he allows a lot of pain.
And while we can’t often reconcile our suffering with his goodness I have seen purpose in it.
I am closer to God in my brokenness than I am in my wholeness.
I am closer to God when I am completely helpless to change my situation.
I am closer to God when he is the only One who can sustain me.
Not my husband. Not my children. Not even my mama.
So I pray that whatever comes our way, whatever my children face, that it would draw them to the cross. I ask God not to spare them from trials but to sustain them through them. And I pray that God will protect this mama’s heart.
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