For those of us who suffered loss, I want you to know that if you’ve gone through break-down, after break-down, after break-down, you’re about to experience a breakthrough because what ever you went thorough didn’t break YOU. Think about that!
What is it that I am here for and help me know what it is, Lord.
I’m not broken. I might be bleeding and shattered ~ but I’m not totally broken.
I pray that that’s the same place for each one of you who has experienced heartbreak.
One of the things that I learned along the way is to feel the hand of God, and He’s present with us. For me, I had to look to hope. I had to look to the Bible. I had to look to God and how His word said He would comfort us. I looked into the word and I studied it.
What does it say about mourning?
What does the Bible say about comfort?
What does it say about loss? What does it say?
He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3 (NIV)
Thank you Father for binding our wounds and healing our broken hearts. That’s where BREAKTHROUGH enters…
The other thing that I did is I turned to the stories of others, so that two-step process. I don’t know that I ever thought of it as the Texas Two Step until just now. I happen to live in Texas. But I had to look at the stories of others, so Don Piper and reading his 90 Minutes in Heaven, and Heaven is For Real made a difference for me. Just as many of those stories as I could read, I would devour, just to hear what someone else had experienced and how God revealed himself to others because I wanted to know.
I wanted to know because if it could happen for them it could happen for me, and it can happen for you, too.
That other thing that brought me comfort was we know that God works everything together for good, so what I went through was not what I would consider my definition of good, and I’m not sure it would be God’s definition of good either, but He works all those shattered pieces together for good.
We see the broken glass, He sees the stained glass.
We see the shattered tiles, He sees the beautiful mural.
We see those frayed threads, He sees that beautiful tapestry that’s been woven together.
When we look to that and remember the pieces of us that are left God can shape and mold in a magnificent way. I think the best way we can say that is we rise by lifting others up and I hope that gives you comfort.
My job is simply to tell my story and if it shines a light for you that’s awesome because I’m just a light but if I guide you to The Light, our heavenly God, or remind you, or just reinforce that belief that you already know God, there’s a blessing as we lift each other up.
In addition to losing my son, a few years before I lost Kyle, I lost my sister, Bette, a brilliant PhD nurse, brilliant. Mother called on a Tuesday morning and said Bette had done the unthinkable, she had bought a gun and used it ~ on herself. In that absolute moment of chaos, I physically felt a caress across my heart, physically felt it. I heard out loud, “I’ve got her, she’s Mine” and that “Mine” was a possessive voice. In the peace, the Bible says, that passes understanding, settled, permeated, I don’t know the right words because there are no earthly words to describe that heavenly experience, and I knew at that moment where she was.
God knew what I needed to believe where she was.
I would have believed the world, “Oh, I’m so sorry she’s committed the unpardonable sin.” “Oh, she’s gone to hell.” I would have believed that but my heavenly Father cannot lie, He does not lie, and He says, “I’ve got her, she’s Mine” and I choose to believe Him. You can too.
I know that story is not just for me. It’s way to prevalent in our society that suicide exists and as tragic as that is, somebody needs to hear that God spoke and said, “She’s mine.” I literally had a question recently that asked, “What does the Bible say about suicide?” I pulled up every single Biblical reference (all 50+ English translations). The Bible talks about suicide, it talks about the individuals committing suicide, but not once does it say that they’ve gone to hell, not once. There is, however, one unpardonable sin.
The Unpardonable Sin
28 “Assuredly, I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they may utter; 29 but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation”— Mark 3:28-29 New King James Version (NKJV)