Jan Harrison - Life After the Storm: God Will Carry You Through

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

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Verses marked AMP are taken from The Amplified Bible, Copyright 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Verses marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Cover by Harvest House Publishers Inc., Eugene, Oregon

Cover photos pixhook, kaisphoto / iStock; Szasz-Fabian Jozsef / Shutterstock

Back cover author photo Stacey Van Berkel

LIFE AFTER THE STORM

Copyright 2015 by Jan Harrison

Published by Harvest House Publishers

Eugene, Oregon 97402

www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Harrison, Jan (Bible study teacher)

Life after the storm / Jan Harrison.

pages cm

ISBN 978-0-7369-6177-6 (pbk.)

ISBN 978-0-7369-6179-0 (eBook)

1. Consolation. 2. Loss (Psychology)Religious aspectsChristianity. 3. Trust in GodChristianity. I. Title.

BV4905.3.H375 2015

248.8'6dc23

2014035604

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To my husband, Frank

Sharing life with you has doubled the joys and halved the sorrow.

* * *

A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart.

Ecclesiastes 4:12

Contents

I t was a glorious early October afternoon in North Carolina, the kind of day that makes you feel glad to be alive. A cloudless blue sky, brilliant shining sun, and rich amber leaves on the trees signaled the approach of fall. All of the signs were present. Change was in the air.

I was home working in my office when I heard the sound of hard-sole dress shoes on the hallway floor. I turned to see my husband standing in the doorway. I wondered what he was doing home in the middle of the afternoon. I was surprised because I knew his plans for that very hour were to be in an important meeting. Without a word, he quietly motioned for me to come with him to our bedroom. When he turned around, the pain on his face told me something was horribly wrong. He whispered, Jan, we lost James today.

In an instant, with no warning, the day turned very dark and everything in our lives changed. My heart split in two while my mind tried to process the news that our only son was dead. He was in Africa, thousands of miles away from us, and we had no idea how he had died. A thick fog enveloped me, and I started to tremble. Shock and sickening fear welled up from depths I didnt know existed, and guttural cries escaped my mouth from some foreign origin. It was as if a line in the sand were drawn. Time would now be marked by before or after James died. We were thrust on a dark and perilous journey called grief and sorrow, and there was no turning back.

Willing to Walk with You

How do you walk a path youve never been on before? How do you withstand a storm that threatens to wipe out your family and ruin your dreams? How do you keep from becoming wrecked by the uncertainties and disruptions in life? My dramatic disruption was the sudden death of my beautiful 27-year-old son. Yours may be a diagnosis, an addiction, an accident, or a disability. It could be abandonment, rejection, divorce, infertility, or the loss of a job creating both physical and emotional insecurity. Because of these situations, many of us feel as though we are adrift at sea with no compass or purpose other than survival.

I want you to know my heart joins with yours in care and compassion. Although none of us can fully understand the circumstances and unique experiences of another persons life, its comforting to know others are willing to walk with us through pain, grief, and despair. I want you to know I consider it a privilege and a blessing to come alongside to encourage you and be a companion as you walk your personal trail of tears. My purpose isnt to try to give you answers. Its to help you find the Answer.

It may be that you are the one sorrowing, or it could be you are sharing in the struggle of a child, family member, or friend. All of our lives touch others, so its inevitable that we take on the load of the people we love. As my children have all become young adults with their own families, I am beginning to understand the obvious but somehow surprising truth that you are a mother as long as you live. Their cares and concerns are mine. We find our roles reverse as our parents age, and its straining and unsettling for all. Sorting through the many decisions with patience and a gentle spirit can be exhausting. Trying to carefully balance the roles and demands of several generations often becomes more than we can take.

Some of us become entangled in a swirl of unwelcome and unsolicited activity based on the actions of others. Maybe youve been raped or violated, falsely accused and lied against, misled and manipulated by people you thought you knew and could trust.

Even when were surrounded by people we can end up feeling all alone. Were convinced were unwanted and unaccepted because of what has happened to us. Feelings of despair and depression are common and understandable when shame or guilt is our constant companion. When we realize we have made bad choices and many of the problems we are experiencing are really our own fault, it can cause a deep sense of hopelessness and even the desire to die.

We could be trying to weather a storm alone, or we may be surrounded by a strong group of supporters. Either way, theres a point where the resolution to our pain depends on how we choose to deal with it. At the end of the day, its individual attitude and action that will determine how this disruption or disappointment will be used in our lives. Will we allow this to ruin us or refine us?

Because Ive been through my own storms, may I offer you a word of hope and encouragement? There is life after the storm. There is a journey that will always lead you to the other side. I am praying you will allow me to take your hand and place it in the outstretched hand of Jesus. He will walk you through your storm and take you to the other side of the crisis.

Defining Your Storm

Any disruption of your normal defines a life storm. Disruptions come in many shapes and sizes. They vary in magnitude and destructiveness. Sometimes they are predictable and sometimes they are sudden. Cameras in outer space studying the atmosphere on planet Earth record that there are as many as 2000 storms taking place at once. It seems that everywhere you turn and everyone you talk to is either going into, in the midst of, or coming out of a storm.