A Call and the Comfort of the Gospel

Recently, my pastor was talking about the call of the gospel for all believers. The call of the gospel is a call to repentance and faith, to turn away from ourselves and toward Jesus. It is a call to trust in His finished work rather than our own effort, to surrender our lives to His lordship, and to follow Him in obedience. The gospel calls us to die to ourselves, to walk in newness of life, and to bear witness to Christ through lives marked by humility, love, and faithfulness. It is a call to take up our cross daily, to abide in Him, and to live as people shaped by His grace and truth. As Hope Moms, we do have a CALL to the gospel, but we also have the COMFORT of the gospel. And to this, my broken-Hope Mom-heart says, amen.

When we walk through the valley of baby loss, we are not walking away from the calling on our lives, that we are His and that our lives are for Him and His glory. In many ways, we are walking deeper into it. The gospel does not skip over our suffering. No, it meets us in it. Our grief does not disqualify us from God’s purposes. In fact, it draws us closer to the heart of Christ, who Himself was “a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isaiah 53:3).

For a Hope Mom, the CALL of the gospel means we are invited to participate in God’s mission of redemption and restoration, even in our brokenness. Our motherhood, though touched by loss, is still a platform for God’s glory (2 Corinthians 4:7). As Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1:4, God “comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction.” Our pain becomes a pathway for ministry (Colossians 1:24), and our scars are not wasted; they are redeemed (Romans 8:28).

For a Hope Mom, the COMFORT of the gospel is that we are never alone. We are not called to strength without being given the strength (Isaiah 40:29, Philippians 4:13). In Matthew 11:28–30, Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest… For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” He does not hand us a cross and walk away; He walks with us (Psalm 23:4, Isaiah 43:2). The gospel comforts us with the truth that our babies are whole and safe in the presence of Jesus (2 Samuel 12:23), and that one day, we will be too (Luke 23:43, 1 Thessalonians 4:16–17).

But how do we walk in freedom while still struggling with grief?

1. By being honest about our sorrow.
   Look at David. The man after God’s own heart poured out his pain without filter. In Psalm 13, he cries, “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” And yet by the end, he is declaring trust in God’s steadfast love. Grief and faith lived side by side in David’s heart, just as they can in ours.
2. By trusting that joy and pain can coexist.
   The apostle Paul, writing from prison, says we are, “sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10). That paradox is our path. We do not have to choose between lament and worship, because both are expressions of faith. Worship does not erase our grief, but it does anchor it in hope.
3. By walking in the Spirit, not in shame.
   Romans 8:1 tells us there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Grief can sometimes make us feel like we are failing, like we should be over it by now or stronger than we are feeling. But freedom means letting go of the pressure to perform or pretend. The Spirit frees us to grieve as those who have hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13).
4. By fixing our eyes on eternity.
   Hebrews 12:2 tells us to look to Jesus, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross. What was that joy? Redemption, resurrection, and reunion. We, too, can endure because joy is still ahead. The gospel reminds us that death is not the end. Our story, and our baby’s story, is still being written in eternity.

So yes, dear Hope Mom, we have a CALL to keep going, to keep loving, and to keep hoping. But we also have the COMFORT of a Savior who weeps with us, walks with us, and will one day wipe every tear from our eyes (Revelation 21:4). We walk in freedom not because we no longer feel pain, but because the gospel has given our pain a purpose and our hearts a home. 

Jennie is the Executive Director for Hope Mommies. She and her husband Brian live in Oregon and have four children together— Trenton, Paige who has been in Heaven with Jesus since 2010, Mason, and Cora. If you were to knock on her front door today, you’d find her in something comfortable drinking a hot cup of tea, while trying to figure out how to balance all the things that make up a life. She enjoys spending time in God’s word, fresh flowers, board games with her kids, cooking, and evening walks in her neighborhood. She adores being a new creation in Christ and prays she reflects Him well on this earth.