Grief

---

You Think You’ve Got Problems?
by Dan Blankenship



Tragedy. Heartache. Pain. I know someone who has been doing battle with these three nouns for the past ten years.

It actually began more than ten years ago, when her son suffered kidney failure, which eventually led to problems with seizures. She held on to her faith as she watched her son try and live a normal life through this affliction.

A few years later, she received a phone call that her son had died in a car crash on the way to his place of employment, less than four miles from his home. He had a seizure while he was driving and crashed head-on into a dump truck.

Not too many years later, this same woman of faith suffered another devastating blow. Her daughter was suffering from failing kidneys, just like her brother. Having a great deal of experience with this illness, the woman was sure she could make it through this new trial. But after a short time, tragedy once again reared its ugly head. Her daughter suffered a stroke, and doctors had to actually remove a part of her skull to relieve pressure on the brain. The woman’s daughter was left mentally and physically disabled from this second calamity.

I was in awe of the way this woman managed through the events that seemed to rain down on her like a terrible storm. Is my faith that strong that I wouldn’t be upset with God for allowing all of this to take place? I’m not sure. I’ve never known the type of struggle this woman was facing.

Now, just when it seems this woman has been through more than a human being can handle, her husband of more than twenty-five years informs her that he wants a divorce.

Most people would have called it quits right there, abandoning faith, hope, and love as some words that have no real meaning. God had allowed so much pain to enter this woman’s life that no one could blame her for just giving up. But she didn’t, and she hasn’t.

She has remained committed to her family (she has three daughters and another son). She works a full-time job and takes care of her handicapped daughter on a daily basis. She manages to smile and say “hi” every time I see her. I can only imagine that her strength must come from God’s word and His promise of a better tomorrow, an end to suffering that seems so devastating. I have to believe she has read Revelation 7:17 (NIV): “For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

I can picture this woman in Heaven; an angel taking her to meet the son she lost so early. And I can almost hear her son saying, “Thanks for being so strong while we waited for this reunion, Mom.” And I picture this woman looking over her son’s shoulder and mouthing the words “thank you” to the man with scarred hands and feet.

---

PLEASE ENCOURAGE AUTHOR BELOW LEAVE COMMENT ON ARTICLE