Helpless, hurting and hoping

It was not so much that I could not give my darling up, but that I saw him suffer such pangs, and then fall under the grasp of the cruel destroyer, while I was impotent for his help. Ah! When the mighty wings of the angel of death nestle over your heart’s treasures, and his black shadow broods over your home, it shakes the heart with a shuddering terror and a horror of great darkness. To see my dear little one ravaged, crushed and destroyed, turning his beautiful liquid eyes to me and his weeping mother for help, after his gentle voice could no longer be heard, and to feel myself as helpless to give any aid—this tears my heart with anguish. (‘From Grief to Glory, James Bruce)

I read those words as part of my preparation for this Sunday (Luke 7:11-17) and then headed into school to help William with his daily walk at break time. We celebrate that he has walked 2 lengths of the hall with his walking frame, while all the other children are running outside. So often as a parent you feel helpless, you wish you could do more.

The widow in Luke 7 must have felt this with incredible intensity, she had previously lost her husband and so all the pressures of parenting fell on her shoulders. Now she has lost her only son. How she wished there was something she could do. All she can do is weep, until a man tells her not to. How can anyone tell you not to cry when you have just lost your child? It’s not that he lacks compassion, in fact he’s just travelled 25miles to be with her in her grief.

I love the way Jeremy Marshall (long term cancer sufferer) writes about this:

The maker of the universe makes a beeline for us in our suffering. Our eyes may be filled with tears and we can’t think of any help, but He is right in front, waiting for us.

Jesus Christ is unchanging, He is just as compassionate today, He will never fail us, He lives to receive all who come to Him, He lives to heal the broken hearted.

We might feel helpless, but He never is, and one day, He will make everything right again.