Disciplined in the Goodness of God
April 30, 2025
Recently, as I was driving I was listening to a sermon on Romans 1:1–7 preached by Jim Hamilton, and he related a profoundly moving story about one mother’s immense faithfulness in the face of sudden tragedy. You can find it here, beginning at 37:55. I would recommend listening to the entire sermon, but here is a lightly edited transcription of the story:
Brian Payne is one of my dear friends, and we got home the other day from this tournament that Jed played in, and I called Brian to debrief with him about the game. And before we got into talking baseball, he told me about this horrific tragedy that took place in his church.
There's a family in his church and they have six children, and they have some property, so they have a tractor. And all the children had been instructed: the tractor's dangerous, you need to stay away from the tractor.
But the six year old son was playing with a frog, and the frog leaped out of the little boy's hands. And the little boy was in a blind spot behind the tractor, and he lunged—and his father ran over him. And his father, who was trained in CPR, administered CPR and got him resuscitated. It was evident that he would never live a normal life. But then he died when they got to the hospital.
It's remarkable the way that this family has responded. There's a lot—I mean, Brian went on and on—how the mother and father spoke at the funeral, and they both shared the gospel at the funeral.
But I was particularly struck by how he told me that when they drove—he drove the mother home from the hospital for her to tell the other children that their brother had died. And this woman—her husband is a lineman who works on electric lines, so he's got this really difficult and dangerous job. And so this mother talked about how over the years she has disciplined herself in the goodness of God. These are people that believe the gospel. And she's been preparing her heart for a day when she might have to get down, eye-level with her kids, like she did the other day, and tell them that their father was in a tragic accident. And with all that preparation—this is the phrase she used—she said that she had disciplined herself in the goodness of God. And Brian said that she got down eye-level with her kids and she looked them in the eye and she said to them, "We are not going to question the goodness of God. God loves us. God loves us. He sent his Son to die for us. And we are not going to question his goodness."
We have to share this gospel. Can you imagine? You can spin out in your imagination the possible outcomes of an accident like that among people that don't believe the gospel. That marriage is in deep trouble. That family is in deep trouble. Those people are going to be marked by tragedy. Even this family is still struggling. The gospel doesn't make it so that this kid didn't die a horrific death. They're still dealing with stuff, but they have the hope of the resurrection. They have the hope that this little boy is going to be raised from the dead and given a glorified body.
Brian told me that his wife texted the mother the other day—she and her husband had just gone to the graveside for the first time. And this is the text that she sent:
And then listen to this:
There's a family in his church and they have six children, and they have some property, so they have a tractor. And all the children had been instructed: the tractor's dangerous, you need to stay away from the tractor.
But the six year old son was playing with a frog, and the frog leaped out of the little boy's hands. And the little boy was in a blind spot behind the tractor, and he lunged—and his father ran over him. And his father, who was trained in CPR, administered CPR and got him resuscitated. It was evident that he would never live a normal life. But then he died when they got to the hospital.
It's remarkable the way that this family has responded. There's a lot—I mean, Brian went on and on—how the mother and father spoke at the funeral, and they both shared the gospel at the funeral.
But I was particularly struck by how he told me that when they drove—he drove the mother home from the hospital for her to tell the other children that their brother had died. And this woman—her husband is a lineman who works on electric lines, so he's got this really difficult and dangerous job. And so this mother talked about how over the years she has disciplined herself in the goodness of God. These are people that believe the gospel. And she's been preparing her heart for a day when she might have to get down, eye-level with her kids, like she did the other day, and tell them that their father was in a tragic accident. And with all that preparation—this is the phrase she used—she said that she had disciplined herself in the goodness of God. And Brian said that she got down eye-level with her kids and she looked them in the eye and she said to them, "We are not going to question the goodness of God. God loves us. God loves us. He sent his Son to die for us. And we are not going to question his goodness."
We have to share this gospel. Can you imagine? You can spin out in your imagination the possible outcomes of an accident like that among people that don't believe the gospel. That marriage is in deep trouble. That family is in deep trouble. Those people are going to be marked by tragedy. Even this family is still struggling. The gospel doesn't make it so that this kid didn't die a horrific death. They're still dealing with stuff, but they have the hope of the resurrection. They have the hope that this little boy is going to be raised from the dead and given a glorified body.
Brian told me that his wife texted the mother the other day—she and her husband had just gone to the graveside for the first time. And this is the text that she sent:
"Big day for us. We just got home after visiting his grave for the first time. And God is still good."
And then listen to this:
"If God can allow the tree to grow
that would be made into a cross for his Son,
then he can allow that frog to hatch
that would jump out of the hands of my son."
that would be made into a cross for his Son,
then he can allow that frog to hatch
that would jump out of the hands of my son."