“Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let’s not let it slip through our fingers. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.” (Hebrews 4:14-16, MSG)
The other day I was speaking with another mom who has a child with hemophilia. She was going through terrible difficulties with accessing a vein for his every-other-day IV infusion, the treatment regimen that gives him a full and reasonably healthy life. When sharing her woes, my heart just broke for her. I nodded my head in understanding and promises for prayers because we have been there too. I could totally relate to her story.
Our faithful God is much the same in two remarkable ways. First, we can go to Him directly with any trouble, frustration or concern we might have. One translation of the Bible even says we should approach Him “boldly” because we realize that he can relate to what we’re going through. After all, Jesus walked this earth and faced everything we face. He was hungry, tired, frustrated, disappointed. He even had family difficulties and was betrayed by friends. He suffered tremendously, not only in always trying to do the right thing, but in His worldly poverty as well. And of course, the pain and torture of the cross is far beyond what any of us have had to bear. But He holds out great hope for us in that He triumphed over all of those things, not folding to sin and even overcoming the grave! This experience and this success makes Jesus the go-to guy on every situation we need to talk about, whether big or small.
The second way He offers us comfort in situations like my conversation with my fellow “hemo mom” is that He works through other people in our lives. It’s fact — God is more likely to use people and situations in our lives to do His work than He is to create some overwhelming divine event. There are tremendous practical ways that He has ordained or created for us to connect with parents who have walked a mile in our shoes. He blesses wonderful groups like The Coffee Klatch, a chat group that uses tools like Twitter, Facebook and Blog Talk Radio to connect parents all over the world with others who are also raising a child with special needs. He opens doors through places like Support for Special Needs, a website that currently offers over 130 different community groups with everything from diagnosis-specific groups, to groups designated by location, to life-stage concerns, to personal interests. Of course, there are countless supports through local causes, hospitals and school districts as well. The organization which I have the privilege of running, SNAPPIN’ MINISTRIES even has a formal parent mentor program to pair you with someone to walk the journey with you. The ways to find another parent or group of parents you can consult, complain or celebrate with is virtually boundless these days.
The point is, we have a God who is not disengaged from our challenges in life, although sometimes we may feel that way. We have an awesome Lord who, although He didn’t have to, put Himself through all the icky, difficult parts of our lives, so we could always know that there’s hope, understanding and fellowship available to us at any time. We have a God who hears our troubled prayers and replies, “I can relate!” And that makes Him one amazing God indeed!
* The two fine moms in the photo used for this post also run a fabulous organization called Good Friend Inc which builds acceptance, awareness and empathy for kids on the autism spectrum amongst their peers and educators. Check them out when you get a chance!
Barbara Dittrich
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