Just as the sun shines through the clouds, be with us Father.

This is the eve of EVERY mother's worst nightmare. I was called to the hospital to find my son, Johnny, in critical condition.

from my book, "Streams in the Desert." This is what I read today.

Yesterday you experienced a great sorrow, and now your home seems empty. Your first impulse is to give up and to sit down in despair amid your dashed hopes. (My dream was to see all my children grow up, marry and have children of their own.) Yet you must defy that temptation, for you are at the front line of the battle, and the crisis is at hand. (There I stood in the hallway of the hospital, waiting for a positive response from the doctor on duty.) Faltering even one moment would put God's interest at risk. Other lives will be harmed by your hesitation, and His work will suffer if you simply fold your hands. You MUST not linger at this point, even to indulge you grief.

A famous general once related this sorrowful story from his own wartime experience. His son was the lieutenant of an artillery unit, and an assault was in progress. (The assault on my family, 3 years ago, was in full progress.) As the father led his division in a charge, pressing on across the battlefield, suddenly his eye caught sight of a dead artillery officer lying right before him. (There lay my son, lifeless and unable to help himself. I held his hand, sobbing.) Just a glance told him it was his son. The general's fatherly impulse was to kneel by the body of his beloved son and express his grief, but the duty of the moment demanded he press on with his charge. (This mother too, determined to move forward, kissing my son Johnny.) So quickly kissing his dead son, he hurried away, leading his command in the assault.

Weeping inconsolably beside a grave will never bring back the treasure of a lost love, nor can any blessing come from such great sadness. Sorrow causes deep scars, and indelibly writes its story on the suffering heart. We never completely recover from our greatest griefs and are never exactly the same after having passed through them. (The pain feels as real, as if I were in that hospital today. My son is now in heaven, joyful and no longer in mental anguish.) Yet sorrow that is endured in the right spirit impacts our growth favorably and brings us a greater sense of compassion for others. (Our family is holding, once again, a fundraiser in honor of our precious Johnny.)

Indeed, those who have no scars of sorrow or suffering upon them are poor. "Who for the joy set before..." Hebrews 12:2 us should shine on our griefs just as the sun shines through the clouds, making them radiant.

God has ordained our truest and richest comfort to be found by pressing on toward the goal. (I press into connection with my Maker.) Sitting down and brooding over our sorrow deepens the darkness surrounding us, allowing it to creep into our heart. And soon our strength has changed to weakness. But if we will turn from the gloom and remain faithful to the calling of God, the light will shine again and we will shine again and we will grow stronger. -J.R. Miller

Let your light shine!
Johnny delights in heaven as we continue to be beacon's for His Father's Glory!