Coping with the death of a child must be one of the hardest trials of all in this life

This is an open communication to my beloved brethren who have lost a child or children in this physical life. Whether you have lost a child through an abortion (prior to conversion), miscarriage, illness, an accident, kidnapping, or through divorce, it hurts so deeply, and we as parents mourn, for the rest of our lives we feel incomplete.

Imagine another scenario — the pain experienced when a child actively decides to remove themselves from your home — not because they do not love you — but because of your faith. Many of you are suffering because you have adult children who have severed the ties completely and have not spoken to you for many years. This is terribly painful.

Imagine a world where the authorities are willing to take your child from you because the child wants to experience worldly fun. Is this a world that will come in the future? Don’t be too sure! It is actually the world we live in now. We live in this present evil age and Satan is actively waiting for his opportunity to pounce and remove our children from listening to our instruction in following God. He does not care what it takes...whether slyly or brutally, as long as his purpose is served. The younger, the better.

One might think that our children are safe until they reach the age of consent and then from the age of 18 years they may leave our homes and taste what the world has to offer. It wouldn’t be what we would want for them but they can legally do this. We, as parents, pray to God to protect them, and of course, hope they return like the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32).

There are many people in the Bible who lost children by various methods. Adam and Eve with Cain killing Abel, Job, King David and Bathsheba, Abraham with Ishmael, Jacob (Israel), Naomi, Jochebed who was the mother of Moses, and Eli the Priest, to name only a few. Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son Isaac believing in the goodness of God to restore all things (Genesis 22 and Hebrews 11:17-19).

God allowed His son Jesus Christ to be sacrificed in the most brutal of all deaths brought on by the wickedness of the world, led by Satan. Can we even begin to imagine the grief and torment experienced by our loving Father who just kept giving and loving every one of us?

Children of Converted Single Parents

It has been my experience that a child as young as 12 can be removed from one parent and given to the other based on assessments by so-called experts (psychologists and psychiatrists) determining that the cause is related to our faith in God and keeping of the Sabbath.

I find this incredibly ironic that many children live in squalor, with hardly a thing to eat, who are dirty, miserable and maltreated, even abused from emotional, physical and/or verbal abuse. Drug affected parents who are addicted to substances costing money that would have ordinarily been spent on groceries and items that their children need but instead is wasted on their habits. Yet the world’s system is reluctant to take them away in many instances because they are living with their biological parents. The social system sees the parents as victims just as much as the children are. However, if religion or Christianity is involved, there seems to be such an outcry of abuse of the child having to go to church/services every week on the Sabbath, which, to the “experts” is considered harming one’s child.

If I was cunning like a demon, I would imagine targeting all the children of single parents as an easy place to start. After all, these children are more vulnerable because they do not have two converted parents under the same roof whether due to divorce, separation, or death. The fact is the devil is tirelessly working to influence all of these children with the cares of this life (Luke 8:14, Matthew 13:22, and Mark 4:18-19).

Ridicule, Torment and Anguish

There is an account of a woman named Hannah in 1^st Samuel 1, who weeps for a child because she is barren. Not only that, but she endures the taunts from another woman, Peninnah, with whom she must share her husband (Elkanah). Peninnah has children. The torment is relentless and ongoing. However Hannah chooses to trust in God and have faith that persistent prayer will be answered. She waits on God. She doesn’t take matters into her own hands. She is even accused of drunken behaviour by the high priest Eli when she was earnestly praying in the Tabernacle while heavily grieving with much anguish. Talk about adding insult to injury!

God grants Hannah’s selfless prayer because she humbly asks for one son, and will give him up as a willing sacrifice to God to be used as a Nazarite, once he is weaned. Notice that Hannah says this son Samuel will be lent to the LORD for as long as he lives (1^st Samuel 1:28). Hannah would not live with her child because Samuel would live with the priests and minister at the Tabernacle at Shiloh. However she could visit Samuel and bring him a bigger robe each year, as he grew, when coming to offer the yearly sacrifice. Hannah, I am sure, would savour these visits immensely and look forward to them throughout the year.

In 1^st Samuel 2:21 we can read that God visited Hannah and gave her another 3 sons and 2 daughters. This account of Hannah’s life had a happy ending. She had many children to take care of knowing that God had answered her prayers. Just like Hannah we can have a happy ending too.

Learning from a Life of Sacrifice

So, what shall we do? There is a choice to make. We can either complain bitterly or thank God most graciously for the blessings that He has given to us. We know that this world is only temporary and our lives are as a vapour (James 4:14). It may not feel like a vapour now while we are enduring pain. It may feel like one big dense and heavy fog threatening to engulf us. How about focusing on the family we do have? Remember what Jesus said in Mark 10:29-30. “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for my sake and the Gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time — houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions — and in the age to come, eternal life”.

And we can take great comfort knowing we have the promise God has made to us that we will all live again (1^st Thessalonians 4:13-14). That is of huge comfort to me. Patience, long suffering, waiting faithfully for the time when all will be reunited again, is what is needed. One day at a time.

We will go from suffering to glory if we believe and follow through with the words of Romans 8:18 and 8:28. Be persistent at prayer (Romans 12:12) and know that “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:4).

Finally, let Revelation 21:4 add to your comfort knowing that “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying; and there shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away”.