The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.
Psalm 34: 18
As I continue my series of thanksgiving posts, I am grateful for God’s promise to be near to the brokenhearted. What a comfort to know we never have to go through anything alone. This doesn’t mean sorrow is easy, but knowing he is near can help us endure the difficult times.
One of the most difficult things I ever went through was my mom’s unexpected death. She was only 55 years old and was healthy most of her life. She had a heart attack while sitting on the couch watching the news one evening in the spring of 1992.
I became a new Christian about a year prior to mom’s death. My husband got out of the Marines after 14 years and we had just moved back home and had our fourth child. I was far from home when my first three children were born. Trips home were infrequent. I was excited I was going to have more time to spend with mom and see her enjoying living near her grandchildren for the first time in 14 years.
My phone rang at 10:00 the night mom passed. It was dad telling me something was wrong with mom. As we followed the ambulance to the hospital, I prayed God would save mom’s life. As a new Christian, I trusted he was going to answer my prayers. I imagined walking into the ER and telling mom what a scare she gave us all. Instead, upon our arrival at the hospital, we were taken to a small room where the doctor told us mom had died of a massive heart attack.
I felt the life drain out of me. Mom was my best friend, and I couldn’t imagine life without her. Suddenly, the arrival of spring didn’t seem like much to celebrate. My baby girl had just started to walk and I was planning to surprise mom the next time we visited. The plans I had to spend more time with mom and see her enjoying her grandchildren were erased in one sentence spoken by a doctor I didn’t know.
What happened over the next few days was difficult to explain. I felt a supernatural peace and comfort that to this day I find difficult to put into words. God did not answer my prayer to spare mom’s life, but God did reveal his power and strength to me in my time of need. What an incredible blessing it was to experience that feeling as a fairly new Christian who had a lot to learn about faith.
I felt like God picked me up and carried me close to him in the weeks and months following mom’s passing. One of the verses of scripture that really spoke to me during that season of life was Isaiah 40: 11.
He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those who have young.
Losing a loved one is never easy, but God promises to be near to those who are brokenhearted. I’m so thankful he gathers us in his arms and carries us close to his heart when our world seems to be crumbling around us and we wonder how we will go on. I’m grateful that God revealed his amazing comfort and strength to me as a wobbly-legged baby Christian, crushed in spirit, who desperately needed to be gathered into his loving arms. Praise his name!
