Disciplines of a Godly Woman _ Barbara Hughes

This true story shook me to the core.

Pastor Scott Willis and his wife, Janet, along with six of their nine children, piled into their minivan, buckled up, and left their home on Chicago's south side for Wisconsin. It would turn out to be a day of excruciating pain and horror. While driving north on Interstate 94 in Milwaukee, the van ran over a large piece of metal that punctured the gas tank, immediately turning the vehicle into an inferno. By the time the van stopped and the parents fell out, their children were hopelessly trapped. Six of their children went to live with the Lord that day.

You'd think the Willis' would conclude that their God was far away at that moment. Yet, the burned, bandaged couple, still in physical pain, gave witness to God's grace at a news conference. Janet relates that when she looked back toward the van and began screaming, Scott touched her shoulder. "He said, 'Janet, this is what we've been prepared for.' And he was right. He said, 'Janet, it was quick, and they're with the Lord.' He was right."

In their shared hospital room Scott and Janet comforted themselves by watching videos of their children, reading passages from God's word, and talking openly about what had happened.

The Willis' testimony amidst the tears and heartache is amazing. "I know God has purposes and God has reasons," says Scott. "God has demonstrated his love to us and our family. There's no question in our mind that God is good, and we praise Him in all things."

"It's his right," agrees Janet. "We belong to Him. My children belong to Him. He's the giver and taker of life, and He sustains us."

With these words, Janet and Scott Willis demonstrated to the world and particularly to believers what it means to "run with perseverance the race marked out for us."

When the drama unfolded on National Television, an icy fear gripped my heart. I suspect that most Christian women quietly prayed something like, "Dear God, please don't ask that of me!" The Willis' amazing faith, poignantly revealed the shallowness of our own - the tentative commitment that lets us fall apart if we experience even the inconvenience of losing the car keys.

Faith in the goodness of God in the face of extreme adversity doesn't just happen. It grows out of a discipline of perseverance in the day-in, day-out grind of everyday life.

What a great testament to God's goodness! I'm inspired that this couple in the midst of a horrific loss of dearly loved children were able to still be assured of God's love and goodness to them.

It's obvious that God sustained them through their suffering and was comforting them as only one who has experienced such a loss can do. (God the Father also watched his son die a torturous physical death, and can comfort us in our times of grief.)

I can't imagine the crushing pain of one child of mine dying, let alone six. But as the woman said, they aren't ours, are they? They're Gods. He knit them together. He moulds their hearts and minds. They are on loan to us, but are never truly "ours". And God can take any of us to live with Him at any moment.

I wouldn't ever want to experience this type of loss, but I know that If I do, I'll collapse in grief into God's soft embrace.