a borrowed post

In the last 11 days I have found I have no words for what life has shown me. Though my family itself is healthy and fine, we have watched our friends endure any parent's worst nightmare. Never have I seen faithful followers stay focused on Jesus the way I have recently.  A precious sweet little boy was lost on this earth, but he has shown life to so many in just a short 22 months of being here. His parents have shown great faith... the kind you wonder if it really exists.  Now I truly know. It has been pouring out of them from the moment this happened. Jesus created us to love Him and love one another.  No other Truth can set us free today.  I am borrowing this post below from a great on-line ministry I belong to, Proverbs 31 ministries.  I hope they don't mind.  I just found their devotions to be so fitting this last week.  I know it is long, but please take a few minutes to read below. The abundance of faithfulness I have witnessed recently has taught me so much about living a life for Jesus and with one another. Greater things are yet to be done...

"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32 (NIV)
Whatever we are facing in this moment we can choose to grab on to the truth. Let everything else go. Let go of the anxiety, fear, uncertainty, and frustration. Park our mind with what is true. "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free" (John 8:32).

What truth can do for us is really amazing.

A few weekends ago I was wrapping up at a conference where I'd been speaking. My friend Beth and I were talking about where the team would be meeting for dinner that night. Suddenly, a very frantic arena staff member came over and told us there was an emergency and we were needed right away.

A lady attending the conference had just been told her two grandchildren had been killed in a fire that day.

We rushed over to find a lady surrounded by her friends. She was sobbing to the point she could hardly breathe. She'd just been with her grandbabies ages 8 and 4. They'd spent spring break with her last week. She'd held them, rocked them, stroked their hair, and kissed them all over their faces. How could they be gone?

It was too much for her brain to process.

The EMT stepped aside so we could hold her hands and pray over her. At first I stumbled my way through requests for Jesus to pour His most tender mercies into this situation. I prayed for comfort and the reassurance that these children were being held by Jesus in this moment.

It was so hard. My mommy heart ached so deeply for this woman. My eyes welled up with tears refusing to stay contained.

As Beth took her turn to pray I noticed something miraculous. Every time we said, "Jesus" her body calmed, her crying slowed, her breathing stopped sounding so panicked.

So, when it was my turn to pray again I just said His name over and over and over. This sweet grandmother joined me, "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus."

As we said "Jesus" over and over, truth flooded my mind.

I remembered what I'd written in last week's devotion about fearing death... Death is only a temporary separation. We will be reunited again.

I remembered this truth from 2 Samuel 12... When David's infant child died, David confidently said, "I will go to him, but he will not return to me" (v. 23b). David knew he would see his child again- not just a nameless, faceless soul without an identity, but his very child. He would know him, hold him, kiss him, and the separation death caused would be over.

The only thing that seemed to calm my devastated sister was the name of Jesus and His truth.

What a powerful reminder to us all.

Hold on to His Word, sweet sister. Speak His truth and the name of Jesus out loud in the midst of whatever you are facing today. Our souls were formed to recognize and respond to the calm assurance of Jesus and truth.

Never has this been clearer to me.

Please pray for my friend and her family.

And remember in the midst of whatever you face today...

We can choose to grab on to the truth. Let everything else go. Park our mind with what is true. "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free," (John 8:32).

Dear Lord, I lift up my friend and her family today. I also lift up my mind, and ask You to help me remember to speak Your Name and Your truth in any situation I'm in that seems overwhelming- little things and big things. Truly my soul was formed to recognize and respond to the calm assurance of truth. In Jesus' Name, Amen.