Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Great Friday

Good Friday morning at 3AM, my little 9 year old daughter knocked on my bedroom door. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and croaked, "Come in."

The door opened and Amie stepped in holding a big mixing bowl. "I threw up and I don't feel good." She told me in a weak little voice. I hopped out of bed, threw on my housecoat and gently led her back to her bed. She rocked back and forth with pains in her belly and I sat by her side, holding her sweet little hand and stroking her forehead while I softly sang lullabies from when she was a baby. By 5AM, I had made it back to my own bed thanking God that it was Good Friday and I could sleep in.

It was not to be. By 7:30 I was in the bathroom, sitting on the john with bowl in my lap retching violently. Down the hall I could hear Amie being sick again and called for Mark to go and be with her.

By 9 o'clock, Amie and I lay in my bed together praying for God to touch us and make us well again. All day and night Amie and I took turns in the bathroom being sick. It was the worst I have ever felt...and I have has 3 natural childbirths, so that is saying something. I cried and cried and begged God to touch us and take the pain away.

By Saturday morning the worst of it had passed - thank God. My little Amie lay on the pillow next to me and stoked my cheek. "Mommy," she said, "I prayed that if God would only make one of us better that it would be you." She smiled at me. Her hair was stuck to her forehead from the sweat and her little face was as white as a ghost. Dark smudges under her big brown eyes spoke of the strain of the last 24hrs, yet her heart was filled with love and she smiled at me. My heart melted. My sweet little girl. How much must she love me to ask God to make me better before her? It reminded me of a saying I had once heard. I think it goes something like this; I asked the Lord, 'How much do you love me?' 'This much' He replied. Then He spread His arms and died for me.

It had been Good Friday. The day we lay in bed and suffered an illness like I have never felt. The day we remember how Jesus suffered and died for our sins on the cross. The day we remember how they beat Jesus and spat at Him and hated Him. How much greater was His suffering than my own? Yet He chose to do it. At any moment He could have called the angels down to set Him free, yet He chose to suffer. It was His love for me that held Him to the cross.

Just like my little Amie, turning to me and telling me that she would go on being sick, if it meant God would heal me, Jesus died on the cross as His way of saying, "It's okay. I asked God to punish me instead of you. I will die so you don't have to." I can imagine the love in His eyes, shining like the love I saw in my daughter's eyes, smiling through the pain because of love. Beautiful, forgiving, perfecting, unconditional love. Good Friday is not what it was....it was a Great Friday.

Matthew 27:39-44 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40and saying, "You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God!"
In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.' " In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him.


John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Lord Jesus, thank you for loving me enough to willingly suffer for me. For protecting me from my own just punishment. How great must your love be to suffer so very much? Am I worth it? I don't know, yet you did it, so I must be of great value to You. What an honor, what a humbling insight. Thank you for turning this illness into a beautiful experience that has led me closer to You. I love you so very much. Amen.

4 comments:

  1. greetings CH, wow sounds like a rough day. We had a family funeral one good friday that was powerful. Two coffins because it was a car accident. One a believer the other not, it was at both the same time an awesome and horrible God moment.
    Shalom
    Stephen

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  2. How sad. It is always a tough thing to deal with when you lose an unsaved loved one. My husband is one of those people and I pray for him daily. I guess we just have to realize that God is in control and His plan is perfect. Nice to hear from you.
    Blessings
    -Christian

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  3. Hello, I am following you as Faith, Hope Love saves..
    Hang onto that verse in Acts 16:31..."You and your household, will be saved." Your husband will be won by your example and love.
    A good remedy to keep in the house for vomiting, nausea etc is Charcoal Capsules...they do neutralise nutrients from food so are to be used ONLY when needed..
    They can be purchased over the counter at a Pharmacy.
    In a hospital Emergency room the first remedy used for poisoning is liquid charcoal. Also.. then...keep up the fluids to guard agian dehydration because loss of fluid causes the blood pressure to drop and can become dangerously low. God Bless you!

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  4. Thanks Crystal Mary. Love that verse. It is going into my list of everyday verses. Thank you also for the advice. I will make a point of picking some charcoal up. Glad to meet you.

    God Bless!
    -Christian

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