Anchored: What About God?

Over the next nine weeks on the blog, we will be following along with our fall Hope Groups as they go through Hope Mommies’ newly published Bible Study — Anchored.  For those of you who did not register for a group this year, this will be an opportunity to walk through the topics studied in our Hope Groups. For those of you who are currently participating in a Hope Group, our desire is for these posts to reinforce the lessons you are learning with your group.   Wherever you are in your journey through loss and grief, I pray that this series will encourage your heavy hearts, remind you of truth, and point you to the unrelenting, far-reaching Hope of Christ as we anchor ourselves in Him and His Word.  

…

Week 2- What About God?

When we are faced with deep sorrow, pain, and loss our theology is greatly tested.  It is in these moments when what we truly believe about God is unveiled.  Our whole lives are built upon the foundation of what we believe about God, and the only foundation that can hold up to the gravity of losing your baby is the truth of God’s unfailing goodness and sovereignty, and the sufficiency of His Word.   

Martin Luther once said, “The soul can do without everything except the Word of God, without which none at all of its wants are provided for.”

There is something about words that can challenge us, move us, motivate us, and give us courage.  As we study the narrative of mankind, we can find countless instances of great speeches, proclamations, or written words changing the course of history.  Words have a powerful effect on our lives.

Dear one, we have been given the very Word of our Almighty God!  The One who holds the universe in place has breathed out a book!   We have access, through His Word, to knowledge and insight that is invaluable and unquestionably true!  We can know and study the very heart and mind of God as revealed through this book!

This Word is life-changing — life-giving! 

Before Moses died, he gathered the people of Israel together to remind them of God’s faithfulness and recount all that He had done for them.  When he had finished speaking to them from God’s Word he said,

“For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live…”
-Deuteronomy 32:47

Your. Very. Life!

As you read through God’s Word do you respond as though it is your very life?  Do you treasure it according to its immeasurable worth? 

“But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.  All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”
-2 Timothy 3:14-17

1. “You have been acquainted with the sacred writings…”
These words bear the mark of God’s holiness.  His divine nature is woven throughout every stroke of the pen.  This is no trivial book we have access to, for it contains the perfect, trustworthy, pure, true, and eternal words of our good and sovereign God.  Treasure this book, grieving sister, it is sacred.

2. “…able to make you wise for salvation…”
There are no words that have ever been written or spoken like these.  There is no other truth that holds the power that leads to salvation and eternal life!  God’s Word prepares our hearts and minds to discover Jesus —the author of salvation!  In fact, God’s Word manifested itself in the very person of Jesus.  God’s Word took on flesh in the person of Jesus Christ.  He is God’s Word personified, fulfilled, and shining into the darkness and brokenness of this world.

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth!”
–John 1:14 

Within the pages of the Bible is the story of God’s redemption of mankind through His Son, Jesus.  Dear one, our God deeply desires to have a restored relationship with you.  Will you come to Him in all your brokenness to be healed?  Will you accept the free gift of salvation that He holds out before you?

3. “All Scripture is breathed out by God…”
These words have been breathed out of the same mouth that spoke the world into existence.   Does this not inspire you?  His breath has the power to create and sustain the entire universe!  And that same power is pulsing through every God-breathed page of Scripture!  Since God is truth and the author of all that is true, we can approach His Word with complete confidence in its infallibility.  These are the very words of the One who made you and loves you unconditionally.  

4. “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.…”
Everything that God has called us to do, He also equips us to do through His Word.  Through the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives, God’s Word enables us to become a people who accomplish the will of God, who press in towards godliness, and who are transformed into the very image of His perfect Son. 

God’s Word teaches us how we ought to live, by laying out God’s expectations for us .
God’s Word reproves us when our sin is pointed out as we fail to meet those expectations.
God’s Word corrects us as it transforms our thinking and turns us away from the path of sin and towards righteousness.
God’s Word trains us as it empowers us to grow in righteousness and put off the desires of our flesh. 

And this process, this supremely profitable process, is what completes us and equips us for every good work.  The Scriptures continually expose us to the greatness of God in all of His strength and beauty in order to draw our hearts into the joyful sufficiency of His presence.  God’s Word transforms our thinking and desires until we are no longer satisfied with the things of this world, but are instead filled by what is eternal and unchanging.  As you read, meditate on, and memorize His Word it will change you from the inside out.  Then you will be able to echo the words of Peter in John 6:68:
“Lord, where else could I go? It is YOU that hold the words of eternal life.”

It is only in You that every cry of my aching heart is answered.
It is only your Word that is able to speak life and hope into the sorrow I am walking through!

I am broken
I hold everything together. (Col. 1:17)

I am weary
Come to Me. I will give you rest. (Matt. 11:28)

I am hurting
I am near to the brokenhearted and will bind up your wounds. (Ps. 147:3)

I am weak
I will uphold you when you are falling. You will not be shaken. (Ps. 145:14, Ps. 16:8)

I am lonely
I will never leave you.  Draw near to me. (Deut. 31:8, James 4:8)

I am scared
Run to me.  I will keep you safe. (Prov. 18:10)

As you journey through the devastating loss of a child, will you turn to God’s Word?  Will you treasure His Word and recognize the life-giving power flowing through each page?  God’s Word is your very life, dear one, let it fill you, encourage you, and strengthen you as you day after day saturate yourself in it.  For it is only in the character and word of God that true comfort can be found. 

“My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your Word!”
-Psalm 119:28

…

Did you miss the first post in this series?  You can find it here –> Anchored: Marked By Loss

//Ashlee is the Editorial Coordinator for Hope Mommies// She and her husband, Jesse, have three children on earth, two in Heaven, and a little one on the way.
You can get to know her more by reading her blog, https://beyondundone.wordpress.com/