“I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;”
Job 19:24-26 (NIV)
I cried with another woman last night. She doesn’t know me and perhaps will never meet me. Yet every woman is saturated with grief when she hears of the death of a child. Her cry filled the heavens and reached into my heart.
It gives me a glimpse of how Mary must have suffered as she watched her son die on the cross, not truly understanding what was to come. Or perhaps she did. She was favored of God and perhaps, unwritten by the past, an angel came to soothe her soul. Perhaps she had been given a whisper of what her Son was getting ready to do.
I have to believe that my Abba placed her hand in the hand of an angel to help her bear the pain of watching her child suffer. Her tears were mingled with that of her friends—the angel friends that Abba had placed by her side to help bear her up. The friends who stood beside her, watching with her, crying with her, hurting with her.
Mary gave up her Son so that we might see our children again some day. Her Son’s pain gives us hope and comfort when it seems that all has been taken from us. Her Son chose to put Himself on the cross as a sacrifice for all who believe in Him. In Heaven the angels wept while watching a mother’s grief. But they knew that she would soon come to realize that the choice to give His life had been His own.
And so it is with yesterday’s mother’s child. This woman raised a child who chose to put his life on the line to protect his fellow man. She raised a brave and selfless hero who has now met his elder Brother. A Brother who gathered this hero into His arms and told him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ Matthew 25:21 NIV.
We are here dear friend. You may not see us, you may not hear us, and certainly you may never know many of us. But we are here. Holding you, walking with you, standing in the gap when your grief overwhelms you and you rage at our Father for taking a piece of your heart away. He understands. The angels He has placed in your path understand. Let Him carry you through these next minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years. Let the heart of another mother beat for yours today. Let our tears mingle with your tears. And someday soon, let our smiles mingle with your smile. He will get you through this.
Dearest Abba, cover our sister with Your grace. Give her heart the peace that only You can give. We know that Your mercy is sufficient, but it may seem difficult to imagine at this dark time. Please Lord. Please send her armies of angels to carry her through these days. In the name of Christ Jesus we pray, Amen.
We give honor to Michael Landsberry for his bravery and heroic sacrifice at the middle school where he taught in Sparks, Nevada.
Copyright © 2013, all rights reserved, Breath of Life Women’s Ministries. Photography curtesy of Breath of Life Women’s Ministries, all rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
