Jesus the Waymaker

17 Apr

Loss, grief and learning to trust God’s plan.

Do you ever find it hard to keep your faith strong when life is tough? As Christians, we often hear ‘God has a plan for your life, and his plan will come to pass if you have faith in Him.’ But sometimes, life can be so gut-wrenching that you think, ‘Yeah right! If this is God’s plan, it sucks.’

Growing up as a Christian, I was taught that if I prayed hard enough, I could get anything I wanted. At the age of six, all I wanted was a sister - so I prayed every night until I got one a year later! I thought, ‘God is great! He heard my prayer and put a little sister in mum’s tummy.’

Soon after, prayers for a new barbie turned into prayers for my parents to be happy and stop fighting. But years of praying seemed to do nothing.

Why wasn’t God listening?
Why couldn’t He do this one thing that I was asking?
How could living like this be His will?
When my parents finally split, it seemed as though all of my faith and all my prayers were a waste, and God was far away.

After the divorce, I was angry that God hadn’t pulled through in the way I wanted Him to. Now, I was grieving the loss of my family! My pastors at the time had said that breaking up a God- sanctioned marriage was a sin, and that divorce was wrong, so why didn’t God intervene?

Sometimes, situations like these can push us away from God. We may feel He has abandoned us and can develop a negative bias - fixating only on the difficult aspects of the situation. It is hard to see God when He walks us through the darkest valley. However, when we lie down in green pastures, we know that He was the one who brought us through.

During my parents’ divorce, I also lost my grandfather to cancer. His passing was another massive blow to my faith; and while I grieved his death (which my family prayed heavily against), I felt like God had let me down once again.

My grandfather was the only positive father figure I had growing up. He and my grandmother showed me what a good marriage should be like. He was the most God-fearing man I knew, and had always told me that I should trust God because all his abundant blessings had come from Him. After the passing, I felt lost, as though the only good male person in my life was gone. Why would God choose this time to take him back home?

I began to question my faith even more. At times I was angry with God, blaming Him for giving me an absent father and taking away my grandfather. At the time, I did not know that God was teaching me that I could lean on Him. He stood in the gap, becoming my Father. I just had to pray and talk to Him as though He was my earthly father. As Proverbs instructs us, we are to “trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your understanding” (Proverbs 3:5). This is easier said than done when going through hard times.

However, I found that the more I put my trust in God throughout my grieving process, the more at peace I felt. I trusted that God had taken my grandfather to be in a better place, instead of him being on earth and enduring more pain. God had called him back, knowing he had fulfilled his earthly duties as a Christian. I also learned to trust God about my parents’ divorce. In 2 Thessalonians 3:16, God promises to gives us peace always, by all means. After the separation, our home became happier and more peaceful. God was our family’s provider and comforter, and He stood in the gap as both father and husband. Being a Christian does not make you immune
to grief, loss, and the sadness the world brings. However, having a good relationship with God equips us to deal with life’s hurdles. If you have one takeaway from this article, remember that God is a waymaker. His plan might have storms that you need to endure. But, when His face shines upon you, you know He has carried you through. You might not see it now, but when you look back, you will know that God had a purpose for everything you have lived through.

Remember the following verse when you feel like God has abandoned you:

‘The Lord is the one who made a road through the sea for you to cross. You went on a dry path in the middle of the deep water. He led the enemy’s great army, with their chariots and their horses, to chase you. They all fell, and the water drowned them. Their lives finished, like the flame of a lamp that stops burning.

The Lord did all that for you, but now He says,

“Forget those things that happened a long time ago. Do not think about past events.

Look! Now I will do something that is new! It is already beginning to happen. Surely, you can recognise it.”’ (Isaiah 43:16-19)

Hannah Hubert

Hannah Hubert (22) is currently studying psychology

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