These past 2 months have been a crazy time for me, which is why there has been no posts.
On July 29, my youngest God-daughter, Aprhil, was born. And what a joyous time it was!! Not only was she named after me, but I got to be in the delivery room when she was born!! I love babies, so this was a tremendous honor for me!!!
Over the next few weeks, I got to know her, love her, spend time with her and cherish her. What a joy to be with such a wonderful blessing!!!
But that blessing quickly turned to heartache when just 20 days after her birth, she went home to be with Jesus. To say that I was devastated would be an understatement!! One day I will share more details of that day, but today I wanted to share how in the midst of death, we can still prosper in this life.
“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.” 3 John 2
Just as your soul prospers….how does my soul prosper when faced with such a horrific tragedy?
First, I must remember that my Redeemer lives!! (Romans 6:10, Galatians 2:20) Because HE lives, death is not the end! So my soul prospers because Aprhil is not really dead, but rather more alive than she would have ever been here on earth. She did not die, but rather her spirit left her body and she passed on to be with Jesus. Her body will be reunited with her spirit at the resurrection of the dead, but right now she lives. (2 Cor 5:8)
Second, I must remember that because I belong to Jesus, I will see her again someday!! (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)
Third, I must remember that my God is the God of all peace and comfort and I can cry out to Him to heal my heart. I find that when my heart is broken, God removes the brokenness and fills me up with more of Him. That is true prosperity—-being full of HIM!! (2 Corinthians 1:3-7)
Now, lest you think this is easy….think again! It is never easy to go through losing someone you love so much! This isn’t about perfection, but about progress. My soul is prospering in the midst of losing Aprhil, but that doesn’t mean I don’t miss her. It doesn’t mean I don’t cry. It doesn’t mean that I understand why she had to leave this earth so young. It doesn’t mean that I agree with the situation.
But it does mean that my faith in God has not wavered in spite of my many questions. It does mean that I trust that God knows what He is doing as He allows things in His Sovereignty. It does mean that I can draw near to God and allow Him to draw near to me. (James 4:8)
It means that my tears of sadness are not wasted and it also means that this situation will be used for good. (Psalm 56:8, Romans 8:28)
We can truly prosper even in the midst of the saddest situations life has to throw at us.
Until next time, Keep Prospering in Christ!!