Purpose in Pain: On to a Better Land!
“And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land…” Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 7a
On the other side of your wilderness is a good land! But do not forget the lessons learned. For this reason, pile up stones of remembrance for yourself and others. After the Lord “dried up the waters of the Jordan” for the people of Israel to cross over, Joshua told the priests to gather up stones and he piled them up so that for generations people would see these stones and ask what they meant, and then they would be able to tell of all their great God had done. Joshua said it best in Joshua 4:24.
“That all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the Lord is mighty and that you may reverence and fear the Lord your God forever.”
So after the loss of out baby in early 2011 I added a small, gold heart to my charm necklace that holds Mikaela’s (and now Holden’s) birthstone and to which I had planned to add the September sapphire. This small heart is there to remind me that in reality I am a mother of three, though one is being kept by a much more capable parent than I. It is also there to remind me of the power of God in this difficult time, of the light He shed in my darkest hour. And if anyone questions the significance of that little gold heart, the door will be wide open for me to share about the awesome power of God.
Do not dwell on the past. Do not fall into the pit of what might have been at the risk of forsaking what can be. Allow God to complete the wonderful work He has begun in you. (Philippians 1:6)
Learn from the past, live in the present, and look expectantly into your future. God has great things in store for you! To God be the glory!
