The God of All Comfort

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. 2 Cor. 1:3-5


Matt and I have taken refuge in this verse the past couple of weeks. I suffered another miscarriage and we are again walking a familiar path of grief. This is certainly not the path we would have chosen for ourselves, but we rest in the sovereignty of God and rejoice in the knowledge that our baby is with Jesus.


It is in times of intense suffering that we often feel closest to the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a paradox. Pain brings joyful fellowship. The Lord is teaching me many many things about His character, not the least of which is that He is good, all the time.


We have been so humbled by the way the Lord has ministered to us through His saints the last couple of weeks. Old friends and new have brought so many wonderful meals, an abundance of flowers and words and Bible verses to encourage us. When my mother-in-law saw all the bouquets of flowers around the house, she said she saw how much we are loved.
Matt and I had an incredibly long day this past Tuesday. We left the house at 8 a.m. and didn't return until 9:30 p.m. I had another ultrasound that morning to confirm the findings of the previous week, then a follow up appointment with my doctor, then a long wait at the hospital for a D & C. My mother-in-law stayed at our house with the kids. She said the whole day was saturated with the Lord's peace. Matt and I, too, felt the Lord's presence all day. We were so grateful for a good friend who came to sit with Matt while I was in surgery. As he sat with Matt, his wife was delivering a beautiful meal to Grandma Dianne and the kids at the house. When I got home that night, I was so thankful to be able to hug my little ones and go to sleep in my big comfortable bed.

My parents and sister have visited and kept close tabs on me via the phone. My aunt and uncle have done the same. My sister-in-law (the one with 10 kids) made a couple of freezer meals for us and has called us nearly every day to offer to take the kids. The men at church have been fantastic about stepping in and taking over Matt's church duties. Everyone has been more than understanding when we've had to cancel our normal activities. We know that many people have been praying for us and these prayers have sustained us.

Even though Matt himself is grieving, he has covered me with tenderness these past few weeks. He has also done a very good job of explaining things to the kids. Obviously, no one wants to talk about death, but death is a part of life. The Lord has opened up many opportunities for us to talk to the children about God and His faithfulness.

Appropriately (and providentially), we've been studying 1 & 2 Corinthians in Bible Study Fellowship. Paul was certainly familiar with suffering and the words that he wrote to the church at Corinth through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit still have power for us today.

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 2 Cor. 4:16-18
Related posts: A series written after the miscarriage I had a couple of years ago. Hard Lessons, Hard Lessons II, Hard Lessons III, Hard Lessons IV, Hard Lessons V.