Tonight, while putting my older children to sleep, my eight year old began to sob. She has struggled with fear here and there the past month, but especially since we buried my husband’s sister last week. “I am afraid mommy. I feel like bad guys are going to come into my room and get me and hurt me and I’ll never see you again,” she shared through her tears. My heart was broken. How do I tell her that will never happen when someone we love so dearly was just taken from us? I can’t. The truth is that we do live in a fallen world. Evil does exist and people do horrible things. Last month we endured a horrific loss when Brett’s sister, Andrea, was found dead after missing for three days. We traveled to California over Christmas to bury her remains and say goodbye. This tragedy has been a nightmare and is very real and in our face right now.

But there is another truth at play here as well. Jesus exists. He is alive and He is good. With tears in my eyes, I asked our daughter if I could pray for her. As we commanded all fear to go, Jesus reminded me to lead her to Him. He alone can truly comfort her in this horrible loss. I told Elle to close her eyes and ask Jesus where He was in the room. In her mind’s eye, she saw Him with our three month old, Esther. I told her to ask Him if He could be with her too. She closed her eyes and said the first thing she heard was that He loves her. She continued to ask Jesus if He could stay with her through the night. He showed her He would sleep in her bed, next to her side and that she could snuggle Him the whole night. She felt His peace envelope her and she was returned to joy and able to go to sleep. It was beautiful, and far better than anything I could have done.

How often do we think Jesus can, and will, be with someone else in their need, but forget we can ask Him to take care of us? How often do we doubt He actually will? Elle could see Jesus with her sister. She had faith He was there but had to be reminded she could ask Him to comfort her too. Johnny (our seven year old son) was on the top bunk and as he overheard all of this he, was able to tell us he’d struggled with nightmares since Halloween when their librarian read a scary story of a man that turned into a werewolf. After hearing Elle connect with Jesus, he was inspired to forgive his librarian for sharing the fear-filled story then asked Jesus to come take all fear from him as well.

That’s the thing. When we experience Jesus and His goodness, rarely is it just for us. If we are brave enough to share it, it has a domino effect that inspires others to trust Him and ask to experience Him. What we’ve experienced in the loss of Brett’s sister has been horrible. It has been a worst nightmare come true. But Jesus will walk all of us through this tragedy. He will comfort us, show us His truth, and help us process our grief. And, as only Jesus can do, He will find ways to work good in the midst of it too.

‘Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

Isaiah 41.10 (NASB)