"We're so sorry, but the tests show your baby will be born with Spina Bifida." This was news that broke my friend's heart.
Another friend watches her young son with ADHD struggle with social issues. Her heart breaks for him every time his peers pull away.
There is a dear one whose heart was shattered when her daughter and unborn grandbaby were killed in a car accident.
Achohol addiction consumes the life of a son as a mother grieves.
Another's heart breaks once more as her daughter disappears for days into the inner city on a drug binge.
A mother's heart is torn as her adult son rejects his family and his Maker.
Yet another experiences the late-term death of her unborn child and endures labor and delivery knowing she will never hear her little one's cry.
The tears flow so readily from the friend whose teenage daughter married against her parent's wishes and moved across the country, suddenly and painfully altering their close relationship.
A mother's heart, I think, is one of the most fragile things. The sustaining power of God also makes that same mother's heart one of the most resiliant, trusting things. These women I know each have such a unique hurt. It could seem that no one else can fully understand their pain. But I have seen each of these women powerfully testify of a confidence that her loving, heavenly Father understands. These women praise God through their tears as they proclaim, "I don't understand why and the pain is so deep. But I know You, O Lord, and You are only good. You do not waste our suffering. I will choose to trust You and wait to see Your good plan in all this aching." These hurting ones have also turned their pain into an empathy. They have not given in to the temptation to get so lost in their pain that they don't see the pain of others. They listen to the Holy Spirit's prompting to reach out to other mothers who face sorrows. These women allow themselves to be tools in God's hand to offer comfort, hope and encouragement. They allow God to use their brokenness.
There is a Tinkerbell movie I have watched with my girls that reminds me of the beauty of a broken heart. Tink is in charge of making a sceptor to display a large, beautiful jewel for the festival. However, the jewel gets broken in an accident. She desperately tries to repair it, but cannot. Finally, she designs a sceptor that displays all the broken parts of the jewel. This sceptor catches the moonlight and reflects the light in all different directions in a much different way than a single jewel could. I'm reminded that God holds the pieces of the broken heart who trusts in Him. As He looks at the pieces of a broken heart, each piece shines and reflects His glory in a way that an unbroken heart could not. His trustworthiness, His sustaining grace, His tender care, His comfort, His peace that passes all understanding shine brilliantly through the one who trusts Him through great pain. If these dear ones did not experience the pain, they would not shine so brightly for Him. They would never choose the hurts, but they do choose to trust Him through the hurting. And in so doing, they become His powerful witnesses.
I haven't had my mother's heart broken as deeply as these dear ones. At times, the Evil One tries to whisper fears to me. "How are your children going to hurt you? Are you going to be strong enough to endure the pain that may lie ahead?" I am learning to face these whispered fears with what I do know. God promises never to leave me and never to forsake me. He promises His grace and strength. His word never fails. I am learning to expect neither complete bliss nor deep disaster in my parenting years ahead. I can expect that God will be there through it all and I can anticipate His sustaining power through anything.
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