Dear Friend,
I know there is a good chance that if you are reading these words, you have gone through the grief and bereavement of miscarriage. You may even be in the midst of one now, or want a glimpse of how to glorify God and deal with this ordeal, should you be among those to have to endure it in the future.
I wanted to share with you, beloved, that it finally happened to me. This past week I was the victim of a miscarriage. Until now, miscarriage was something that happened to “other” women. I had snuck by with four healthy pregnancies which produced beautiful children. I was exempt. Or so I thought.
Looking back over the past days, I am in awe of how gracious God has been to me in so many ways. I am well aware that my experience could have been a lot more traumatic, the timing a lot more inconvenient and the luxury of recovery nonexistent. I am counting my blessings, and they are not few!
God has never, nor will ever, give you more than you can handle, precious one. I have seen this clearly over the past week of my life.
Here are 10 ways to glorify God through your miscarriage (abc’s):
1. Acknowledge that God is sovereign, all-knowing. A sparrow does not fall to the ground without His consent (Matthew 10:29-30), a hair does not leave your head without his noting. He knows. And you can fully trust, beautiful sister, that for some reason which you may never understand, He has lovingly allowed this occurrence. He is Good. Trustworthy. Wise. Love.
2. Be thankful. Meditate on the excellence of His blessings in your life. Those that are too many to count. The ones that you see. And those that you don’t. The ones that you take for granted. The children that He has already gifted you. Those walking miracles. Let your heart overflow with thanksgiving for it all.
3. Compassion. You, and now I, can lend a heart of the greatest compassion for others who have and are experiencing the hardship and heartache of miscarriage. It is you who can comfort from a walk of knowing. And can point the suffering to the God of all Comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).
4. Depend on God’s love through others. Receive the meals that you aren’t able to prepare. Accept the phone calls of loved ones concerned. Soak in the prayers of the saints on your behalf. Savor God’s love pouring in through others. Lean on it. And breathe.
5. Ease back into life. An easy search on the Internet will prove that recovery after a miscarriage takes at least two weeks. Allow yourself that extra time of rest, doing as little as possible until your strength returns. My friend, Lisa, from Club31 Women gave me this excellent advice, and taking it saved me potential emotional and physical complications.
6. Forge ahead. It may take time. It will take time. Your baby will not be forgotten if your life continues. She will forever be embedded in your heart, and in God’s Heaven. You and I need to continue running the race toward the prize that God has called us heavenward for (Philippians 3:13-14) and she will be there, waiting for you, at the finish line. Go on living, fixing your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith.
7. Grow in the Lord. There are lessons here to be learned. Lessons of faith and trust that God intended for you to learn through your grief and mourning. I urge you. Don’t pass these by. Take time to think. Meditate. Ponder. Pray. Tune in to what He is doing in your heart, and the new truths that it is His will for you to walk in. Grow.
8. Hope. There is hope. You may not feel it. You may have lost it. Your hope is not in your own ability to “get over this,” or that you will forget and “move on.” Your hope, my sweet friend, is in the Lord Himself (Psalm 42:11), in His promises to you in His Word, and in the joy that if you know Him and His forgiveness of sins, have embraced Him and surrendered to His salvation plan, you will see your baby again.
9. Include others. It is so easy to shut others out of your pain. Not to receive the love and consolation, but rather to withdraw into a shell of seclusion where you are left to pity and nurture your heartache. One of the kindest actions you can do for yourself is to include others into your sphere of loss. Make the effort to go out of “island” mode and allow yourself to be rescued.
10. Joy. The joy of the Lord is your strength. All that you know of God. Every moment that you have already experienced in Him. Let those bring you joy at this time. He has never let you down before. Never disappointed. He has been ever-faithful every step of the way. And He has not changed. Has not left or forsaken (Hebrews 13:5). Even in the midst of this. You can rejoice.
My heart is with you. I am now one of the multitudes. I am weak at this very time of writing. Both physically and emotionally. But I know that my King reigns, and it is only by His grace, that you and I can see Him through the pain of miscarriage.
With my love to you,
~Tehila
What advice can you add to encourage someone who has been through a miscarriage? Here are miscarriage quotes of loss for the grieving mother.
**This article appeared originally on Women Abiding.
About the Author: Tehila is an Israeli, God-loving, husband-serving, child-nurturing mom of five sweet little ones whom she homeschools. She resides in beautiful New Zealand from where she blogs at Women Abiding – Encouraging women to abide in God and His Word. Check her out on Facebook.
