Just as this woman had a plan for how her life would be with children and a family in the way that she envisaged, so too did God…
I was in a business meeting the other day with another woman who is a business owner.
As the meeting progressed and the two of us relaxed, we began to speak of things that were not directly related to our work. We spoke about our families and our experiences.
This woman asked me about my family and how many children I had, and I answered her, thinking nothing of it. And then I asked her about herself. And – immediately – her eyes welled up with tears and she said, “I was unable to have any children.”
She told me that about six years ago – after five unsuccessful rounds of IVF – when she was in hospital fighting for her life, she was finally told that there was no chance at all that she would ever have children.
Now, this woman is not Catholic or Christian and I do not even know if she is religious in any way. But what I do know is her attitude. As her tears fell, very gently, she assured me, “Don’t worry, these are tears of gratitude. I am not sad.”
And I have been thinking about that dear soul ever since meeting her. You see, she experienced terrible terrible grief. She experienced the grief of unfulfilled desires. All the plans that she had made for how her life was going to go had included children. And her efforts – through IVF – had proved that she was willing to try pretty much anything, to put herself through pretty much anything, just to have a chance at achieving her plan in having children.
And though we did not speak at all of religion in this, I saw God Himself in this woman’s story…
You see, just as this woman had a plan for how her life would be with children and a family in the way that she envisaged, so too did God – on a far grander scale – imagine a plan for how life would be with humanity before the fall of humanity…
And just as this woman was willing to do pretty much ANYTHING to achieve her original plan and become a mother, God Himself did EVERYTHING to save us and allow us to be saved as this was His original plan. You see, just as this woman put her body through torment until she was close to death, God Himself became a mere human man (albeit a perfect man), so that He could ACTUALLY suffer and die just to help us to achieve salvation.
And when I think of it like that, I can sort of understand my heartbreak for the gratitude of this woman, because I saw in her tears that day, the sweat and the blood, the torment and the suffering, of my Beloved on the Cross.
And I thank God for the gift of that, because He suffered more than I could ever comprehend just like that woman, to achieve His original plan…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.