My son’s injury
The other day, one of my son’s had a very painful soccer injury. I didn’t initially see what happened, and I assumed it was stemming from a toe injury that he previously was struggling with. But after the game, I went over to him and realized that it was not only NOT his toe, but it was an extremely painful leg injury. So much so, that I was fairly certain I would have to bring him to the hospital.
One of the sports coaches told us to bring him home just to see if the pain subsided a bit. It was cold and that could have been exacerbating the situation. So we carefully and slowly drove home, trying to avoid any sudden stops or sharp turns. The entire time, he was wincing in pain.
We finally got him home, and he needed help just to get out of the car and through the front door. He threw himself on the floor and proceeded to just lie there, writhing in pain. I had no idea what to do. All I wanted to do was stop the pain for my son. I prayed, LORD, if You can, just give ME the pain. Ease the pain! SOMETHING. Father God, help him!
Sunday morning epiphany
I remembered that incident when I was at church Sunday morning. We were reading from Ephesians 3, about the incredible love of God. With the above incident fresh on my brain, the love of God reminded me how I have so much love for my children. I would die a thousand deaths for each one. I would take their pain. I would do whatever to help them. The LORD has clearly created in me a true spirit of Mama Bear with the blessing of being a mother.
But what’s crazy is that I am broken and sinful. I don’t always choose to love my children well. I can be selfish and get easily annoyed with them. I am so thankful that God is not like me. He is perfect, and His love is perfect. According to Paul, we must pray to even try to understand “…what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge…” (Ephesians 3:18-19).
Mama bear love doesn’t even come close
My Mama Bear love is fierce. Mess with my kids and you will have serious problems. But God’s love far exceeds my love of my children. Isn’t that mind boggling? The LORD looked down on us, in our pain, in our suffering, and wanted to ease that pain for us. He came to bring us joy and to share His tremendous love for us, even when He knew we would reject Him. How great is that love? What truly amazing grace!
As I thought about how my heart was being torn out of my chest looking at my son in all that pain, I was convicted of how often I question the love of God. It may not always be blatant, but my lack of faith reflects my heart that doesn’t always trust in that tremendous, pure, and good love the Father has so richly lavished on me. On all of us. When my son questions how much I love him by not believing me or trusting me, I am so hurt and upset. How much more our Father in Heaven?
How great is the love
I pray that we all remember how great the Father’s love is for us. We all have people in our lives that we love so much our hearts feel like they’re going to burst. Remember that doesn’t even compare to the love of God for us. That should be so comforting and convicting. We can trust Him, even when we can’t see. Even when we may not understand. He is not only the definition of love, but He has directed that love towards us. So incredible!
God is good. All the time. Amen?
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I can certainly relate to the desire to take my children’s place in pain and hurt. Whether a victim of circumstance or self-induced, there’s nothing more gut wrenching than seeing your child go through pain – even when they’re adults. The one thing I’ve learned though, is to seek God in every hurt and every injury or illness.
As I look back in my personal life, I’ve learned to appreciate some of the hurts and injuries I sustained. As a young adult, I believe God allowed me to walk through some painful injuries and hurts to correct behavior that, if left uncorrected, would ultimately result in a greater harm. As I’ve grown older and have walked through some illnesses, I’ve learned to rely only on God’s love and purpose and plan for my life.
There were times in our children’s lives where we could have “bailed them out” of certain situations (or hurts) and chose not to. It was painful for us and left us with sleepless nights. We loved them enough to let them walk through a struggle or inconvenience so that they would hopefully learn from it and not want to repeat that experience. (Years later one of our children told us that was the best and biggest act of love we ever showed her.) Go figure!
Yes, our Heavenly Father loves us that much, and so much more! There’s no comparison.
Wow. That was beautifully said. You’re so right. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is just let life play out and have our children face tough circumstances/consequences. I guess that’s where the fruit of the spirit really shows up – specifically with having self control! It’s definitely easiest sometimes to just try and fix things. I’m so thankful for the LORD allowing some hard things, even though I would never want to go through some of those situations again. I pray the LORD strengthens me to do the same for my own children when appropriate (so I’m praying for wisdom too!), and not always step in. It can be so so hard.
Thank you so much for commenting!!