In church this morning, our pastor got up in front of the congregation with his wife and explained to the Church that they had just had a miscarriage. The baby was 10 weeks old when it passed. They had gone in for their first ultra-sound and the Doctor was not able to find the heart beat. This is a fairly common happening and has been a struggle that many couples have had to endure. However, that does not make it any less heart-breaking.
The reason i'm sharing this story is because of something that the mother said while talking about the situation. She was talking about how God has worked through this scenario and while chocking back tears said...
"The way that God has worked through this is so mighty that it makes it all worth it."
Worth it...
Those words shot straight through my heart. When people in the body of Christ go through challenges and tribulations is is common to hear them express their gratitude for God's goodness and faithfulness, but the words "worth it" aren't always present. This couple did not love their child any less than anybody else, but the positive impact that it had on encouraging others in the church and the stories they had received of people growing closer to God through this incident made losing their child worth it to them.
I think that is such a beautiful answer to the question "Why do bad things happen to good people?"
Non-christians love to ask this question. If our God is so loving and so powerful, why does anything bad ever happen to those who love and follow him. This story shows us why.
What is Grace without suffering? What is comfort without discomfort? God IS sovereign and is not bound by a limited perspective. He looks through eternal glasses and sees how everything in life plays out. Who are we to say what is "good" or "bad"? This looked like a very bad thing that happened to this lovely couple, but in that baby's 10 week lifespan, it did more to further the kingdom than many of us have done in our whole life. An un-born child was able to encourage people, spread the gospel, and even lead people to Christ. God knew what he was doing when he gave this couple a baby that would not survive. He IS good and IS faithful. And because of the knowledge of God's faithfulness, this couple was able to see this even for what it really was...A blessing. Worth it.
This also shows a picture of what happened when Jesus died for us. An all powerful and all knowing God gave His son to die. Sacrificed His SON for us because He thinks that WE (filthy sinners) are Worth it.
What a might God we serve!
Psalm 136:1 "Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures forever."
