Perspectives

A mother’s heart

By Steve Nelson
Posted 4/30/20

My sister was just a little girl, only 8, maybe 9 years old. But even now, after all these years, I can still see the words she wrote on that page in her own sincere, child-like way: “My mom …

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Perspectives

A mother’s heart

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My sister was just a little girl, only 8, maybe 9 years old. But even now, after all these years, I can still see the words she wrote on that page in her own sincere, child-like way: “My mom has ‘can sore.’”

I’m sure she really didn’t understand what they meant. All she knew was that her mom was sick and needed to go to the hospital so she could get better.

There was no way to prepare her for the heartache that was in store. How can a child understand something that has never happened before?

Time passed slowly after our mom was gone, and I’m sure she didn’t know how to accept her new life. The family she knew, with the world they had shared, was forever gone and no one could fill that empty place in her heart.

There’s a special bond that ties families together — it’s anchored directly to your heart. Neither time nor distance can erase the love that binds us together but, when one is no longer there, the void that remains is deeper than any ocean and blacker than the darkest night.

My heart often ached as I thought what it must be like to be so young and yet to experience such devastation and loss. It’s hard to be there for someone when you’re not the one they need. But thankfully, there was one who could comfort her when others fell short.

Even though my sister may not have known it then, God was there during all those times of agonizing pain and distress. He loved and cherished her more than anyone ever could and was closer than ever before. He was there the moment our mother breathed her last breath, and was holding her, his little child, in his arms and feeling her pain in his heart.

He carried her through the dark, lonely years and dried each tear as the memories broke her heart.

I believe when we hurt, God hurts, too. He leads us when we don’t know where to go and carries us when we can’t go on. His promise is that when everyone else forsakes us, he will be there.

God, slowly and patiently, carried this broken child over the rocky roads of life with its many bumps and difficult turns. As time passed, she grew into a woman with two precious girls of her own. I’m sure now, more than ever before, she knows how a mother’s heart would break and what an incomprehensible struggle it would be, to trust God as her mother had to do.

But with each passing year, my sister has learned to trust him more, for he is faithful, loving and kind. Even if we fail or forget to keep our promises, he is there when we need him most and he always keeps his. In my heart, I know she understands that, were it not for his unfailing love, she never would have survived.

If your heart is aching and you can’t see beyond today, remember the one who carried her has promised to carry you, too. Take hold of his hand and cling to his word. His promises are sure and his word never fails, for he has promised, “I will never leave nor forsake you.”

 

(Steve Nelson pastors the Powell and Cody Seventh-day Adventist Churches.)

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