Craig Clouston

 Understanding Comfort

August 14

Comfort … with the comfort we ourselves have received.

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2 Corinthians 1:4

Danny was a commercial construction contractor. His firm built low-rise struc-

tures in and around the downtown area. He and his wife, Susan, their three

children, Ammie, Ben, and Chris, lived in the suburbs.

This morning, Danny was running a bit late, but that was okay because

it was Saturday, and he would be the only one at the jobsite anyway. He and

Susan had stayed up late to watch It’s a Wonderful Life last night, Susan gig-

gling at George and Mary’s whirlwind romance, teasing Danny and saying, “If

you treated me the way George treats Mary, we’d never have a bad day.” Susan

would remember, with heart-wrenching clarity, her comment in the days to

come.

As Danny jumped in his truck, Susan waved good-bye through the side

door. Neither of them saw Chris playing behind his father’s truck, and in one

horrifying moment, Danny put the truck in reverse and backed out of the

garage, running over his five-year-old son, killing him instantly.

In the weeks that followed, they were surrounded by friends and family

who tried to comfort them. But no comfort could be found. Danny couldn’t

sleep; Susan blamed herself and Danny for the loss of her son.

The blame would shift from themselves to God and back over the next

two years. Their faith would ultimately hold them together, and grief counsel-

ing would bring a measure of healing. But not before the enemy had his way

for awhile.

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What do we do when tragedy of this magnitude invades our lives? It seems

so unfair, and the anger over a life taken long before its time runs deep. “How

could a loving God allow something like this to happen?”

We say, “Bad things happen to good people.” And this is true but woefully

inadequate for these situations.

The truth is bad things do happen, and sometimes they happen to us

instead of somebody else. And we need the understanding comfort only God

and those who have lost a child can bring. If you are bearing this grief, reach

out. If you have lived through this nightmare, comfort those whose pain is still

raw.

Prayer

“My life is Yours, Lord. But today that doesn’t

help. Show me how to grieve this unspeakable loss.

Bring healing to my broken heart. Amen.”