Isaiah 49 ~ know that I am the Lord your Savior, and your Redeemer

Several people have asked me today about Isabelle. And that is good with me. I’ve learned a lot about stillborn children from different websites on grief recovery, the christian sites are the most interesting to me. They have the answers I need about God, about grief and understanding my life is separated from Isabelle now, but not forever.

The best website I’ve found is by Dr. Elizabeth Best from the University of Florida. Dr. Best has specialized in stillborn baby grief recovery for 30 years and she is a very christian woman.
http://www.forgottengrief.com/index.html

Mothers of stillborn babies take about 2 years to have the grief considerably reduced. Fathers recover more quickly. I am past the intense sorrow, but I really believe what I read about not repressing and I give my tear glands a good use everyday. The rest of my day, I am pretty cheerful. I use the sad moments to picture resting my head on God’s mighty heart. I remember what it says in the Psalms 34:

18 The LORD is close to the brokenhearted

and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

After about 20 minutes, I am comforted. My hope returns.

Psalm 34:19 A righteous man may have many troubles,
but the LORD delivers him from them all.

But when I look in the Scriptures for comfort from missing Isabelle, I am comforted, because the Lord’s promises to my daughter are promised to me as well. Right after Isabelle died, my husband was so sad and asked what such a little baby would do in heaven. I asked him if he thought that his dad, whom he so loved, got really good use out of his brain or his own knees. None of us in heaven use any of the old parts, the only part that is left is the soul. As I said to my oldest son in college today, it makes good sense to feed the part of us that is eternal. A soul is a terrible thing to waste.


Isaiah 49 (Revised Standard Version)

[1] Listen to me, O coastlands, and hearken, you peoples from afar. The LORD called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name.

[2] He made my mouth like a sharp sword, in the shadow of his hand he hid me; he made me a polished arrow, in his quiver he hid me away.

[3] And he said to me, "You are my servant,Israel, in whom I will be glorified."

[4] But I said, "I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the LORD, and my recompense with my God."

[5] And now the LORD says, who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him, for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength –

[6] he says: "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel; I will give you as a light to the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth."

7] Thus says the LORD,the Redeemer of Israel and his Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nations, the servant of rulers: "Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the LORD, who is faithful,the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you."



[8] Thus says the LORD:"In a time of favor I have answered you, in a day of salvation I have helped you; I have kept you and given you as a covenant to the people, to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritages;

[9] saying to the prisoners, `Come forth,' to those who are in darkness, `Appear.' They shall feed along the ways, on all bare heights shall be their pasture;

[10] they shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall smite them, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them.

[11] And I will make all my mountains a way, and my highways shall be raised up.

[12] Lo, these shall come from afar,and lo, these from the north and from the west,and these from the land of Syene."

[13] Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his afflicted.

[14] But Zion said, "The LORD has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me."

[15] "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.

[16] Behold, I have graven you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.

[17] Your builders outstrip your destroyers, and those who laid you waste go forth from you.

[18] Lift up your eyes round about and see; they all gather, they come to you. As I live, says the LORD,you shall put them all on as an ornament, you shall bind them on as a bride does.

[19] "Surely your waste and your desolate places and your devastated land --surely now you will be too narrow for your inhabitants, and those who swallowed you up will be far away.

[20] The children born in the time of your bereavement will yet say in your ears:`The place is too narrow for me; make room for me to dwell in.'

[21] Then you will say in your heart:`Who has borne me these? I was bereaved and barren, exiled and put away ,but who has brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; whence then have these come?'"

[22] Thus says the Lord GOD:"Behold, I will lift up my hand to the nations, and raise my signal to the peoples; and they shall bring your sons in their bosom, and your daughters shall be carried on their shoulders.

[23] Kings shall be your foster fathers, and their queens your nursing mothers.With their faces to the ground they shall bow down to you, and lick the dust of your feet. Then you will know that I am the LORD; those who wait for me shall not be put to shame."

[24] Can the prey be taken from the mighty, or the captives of a tyrant be rescued?

[25] Surely, thus says the LORD:" Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken, and the prey of the tyrant be rescued, for I will contend with those who contend with you, and I will save your children.

[26] I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh, and they shall be drunk with their own blood as with wine. Then all flesh shall know that I am the LORD your Savior, and your Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob."

Isaiah 49 is a balm! It strikes me right where I am today. Jesus is the light for the nations. Revelation says nations, not just a big city, but nations will live in His kingdom.

Little Isabelle, not forgotten or pushed aside in the Lord’s huge kingdom. Isabelle called by God the Father, from the womb, from the body of her mother He named our daugher. And now the LORD says, who formed her from the womb to be His servant, honored in the eyes of the LORD, and her God has become her strength –

Who will care for Isabelle in heaven? The Lord says she is saved from a desolate heritage with the covenant given to little Isabelle in Jesus Christ. Her parents, the scriptures says are bereaved, but God says, “I will lift up my hand to the nations, and raise my signal to the peoples.” The Lord promises to save our children. He who has pity on them shall lead them. Isabelle has foster fathers and nursing mothers who hold her closely and carry her on their shoulders. Isabelle lives in the paradise Jesus has told us about. Those who wait on the Lord, are not put to shame.

One fine day, the Lord will gather us to Him and we will rejoice to live in His presence and to know Isabelle again.

Psalm 68:19
Blessed be the Lord,who daily bears us up; God is our salvation. [Selah]


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