How Do You Offer Comfort?

Not long ago I wrote this post asking you to pray for a little boy from our former church in Parker SD.  Little Isaac had been diagnosed with JMML, a rare form of cancer, right before Christmas.  I was asking for prayer because he was very sick in the hospital trying to get well enough to have the bone marrow transplant he needed.

Many people prayed for Isaac and at the time he did get a little better and he was able to be transported up here to MN to get the transplant. God's people prayed and it seemed that He answered those prayers.

But the cancer was ultimately too much for his little body and on Friday Isaac went home to be with Jesus.  Earlier that morning his mother had posted a prayer request that they needed a miracle....and God's people prayed.

Ultimately our prayers for healing were answered, in that through Christ's sacrifice, Isaac is fully healed and in the arms of his eternal Father.

But of course the prayers weren't answered in the way that we all hoped....for healing on this side of Heaven.  And that is tough to reconcile with, isn't it?

And so I have been wrestling with this all weekend. Wanting to make sense of something that doesn't make sense. Wanting to figure out the "whys" and wondering what I could possibly do for or say to his family to offer some comfort.

I wish that I had all the answers....the right words to say to try and take away some of their pain. But I don't.  What I can offer is my prayers. Asking God to allow us to carry a portion of the burden for someone else so that their load may be a bit lighter.

Have you ever been there?

At a place where you faced something difficult, unimaginable even? And while you couldn't see how any good could come from this trial - you still felt even a small bit of peace?

I believe that peace comes when we share each others burdens. And when there may be no other words that seem appropriate, maybe the only thing we can do is to pray that God would allow us to carry a portion of that burden.

Right now the burden that the Thompson family is facing is huge. Will you please join with me tonight in praying for them? And if you feel led, ask God to allow you to carry some of that burden for them.

Wednesday is Isaac's funeral. Please pray that God's peace will be felt in a strong way that day. That the promise of Isaac's healing and now freedom in/with Christ will bring others that don't know God to the feet of the cross.

 

If you have lost a loved one...or especially a child...what were some of the ways that you found comfort and strength from others? Maybe by sharing here we might come to find a better way to help those we come in contact with.

Thank you for lifting up the Thompson family.