Chapter 7: Forsaken

Dear Friends,

I am posting the next two weeks on Sunday.  I will be traveling for my speaking engagements and I am not sure I will be around a computer on Tuesdays.  Blessings to all of you.

 

 

Quote from the book Gaining Through Losing. Evelyn:  page 86

Is separation by death the only cause of aloneness?  Is there a loss of human association that can be even more difficult to bear than death?  

In death there is generally the factor of God’s sovereignty.  We can find solace in the fact that the ultimate controlling force in death is God.  

Whether we accept it or blame Him, we still hide behind the knowledge that, after all, death is really beyond our control.

 But not so when a loved one deliberately chooses to sever or replace a relationship. Forsaken!  This can sometimes be a far more devastating loss than death.

 When a loved one severs a relationship—especially when it leads to that final loss, divorce—the wound can be even deeper than death.  It bleeds longer and festers.  Hereas, in death the departed one (if in Christ) gains, in divorce, both lose.

Quote from the book Gaining Through Losing. Evelyn:  page 87

I have listened, astounded, as the forsaken ones have told me how God has met them at the point of their devastatingly deep needs.  How He has taken over and filled the void with Himself.  How they have been able not only to cope, but actually to find something given to them by God to replace the lost relationship.

Divorce is all around us.  It is even present in our Christian world.  I have not experienced this painful life situation, but I have been around many who have.  Forsaken is a good way to describe how they feel, yet over and over in the chapters of this book we read that God meets us at our deepest need and people experience more of God.

This chapter of the book relates to a lot of different life situations where God meets people in the midst of their storm.

Recently I have experienced this first hand.  I have lived through one of the hardest years in my life.  When a child that you bear is going through tough times, it hurts more than anything.  Distance has separated us.  He believes he is following God, but nothing but challenges have been pouring down on him, so I began to question what is happening.

I spent many hours crying out to God.  I admitted that I was honestly angry at Him.  I was asking questions like why and where are you? 

Living over a year in this world of pain, I finally came to a point of total surrender.  I thought I had already surrendered, but I had not.  Once I did, everything began to slowly change.  I eventually came to a point that I was able to thank God for what my child was going through and give it all to him.

Here is the only way I could do this.  I prayed…

Dear God,

“I know I need to come to the point in my life that I can thank you for all our son is going through, but I cannot do this without your help.  You know my heart right now as I say, ‘thank you for all our son is going through’.  Please help me to believe this.  Thank you, Dear God.  

I was reading this chapter at a perfect time.  I’d like to share another quote from Evelyn. 

Quote from the book Gaining Through Losing. Evelyn:  page 101

Dear Father, only You can comfort him.  Please, come in proportion to his need.  You love him and comfort him the way I would if I could be there.”

When I gave my son totally to God, I needed to know that God was going to take care of him.  Evelyn’s prayer came at a time when I really needed to know God would take care of my son and comfort him in time of his need.

Everyone out there is probably going through something challenging in their lives.  Knowing that God will come to us in proportion to our needs is so encouraging to me today.  Thank you Dear God!