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The Living Waters Podcast

Ep. 379 - Surviving the Tragedy of Loss: How to Hold Onto God Amid Crippling Devastation

The Living Waters Podcast

Living Waters

Prolife, Witnessing, Faith, Gospel, Evangelism, Jesus, Salvation, Creation, Religion & Spirituality, Religion, Theology, Christianity, Apologetics, Spirituality

4.93K Ratings

🗓️ 26 February 2026

⏱️ 62 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Tragedy can hit without warning, shattering the life you thought you had and leaving you questioning everything. Ray, E.Z., Mark, and Oscar sit down with Granger and Amber Smith to unpack how the sudden loss of their son, River, became a catalyst for a deeper faith and a radical encounter with God. The guys explore Granger’s journey from the moment he almost took his life to the point he encountered Christ through the preaching of John Piper, and how that pivot transformed his heart. Amber sh...

Transcript

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0:00.0

Yeah, I was just grieving extremely, extremely heavily, and I was crying on my bathroom floor all the time.

0:05.7

And I just felt at a certain point in my grief, I felt by the whole, I know now, by the power of the Holy Spirit, three words, enough, seek me.

0:15.1

And in that moment, I realized I was seeking so much of the gift of my son, and I wasn't seeking the giver of my son.

0:22.6

And I realized that I was just sitting in my sorrow and Jesus, my Savior, my faithful father was lifting my chin, saying, enough, seek me.

0:31.6

And that was really the transformation, the time that transformation came around the time that we started reading our Bibles, and I was like, okay, Lord, I'm going to seek you. I'm going to find out who you are as you reveal yourself to be. And in that came freedom and healing and rest. And it doesn't take away our pain. And I still cry. I miss him this side of heaven. But I grieve with hope. And now I know that I am, I'm not six years further away from my son.

0:56.0

I'm six years closer to seeing him again.

0:57.7

But not only him, six years closer to meeting Jesus face to face, which I wouldn't have met

1:03.9

if he hadn't brought us through this heartbreaking time.

1:07.6

And I believe it's Oswald Chambers says, through a broken heart God can bring his purposes to pass

1:12.5

then thank him for breaking your heart

1:14.2

wow

1:14.8

there

1:20.9

great

1:22.9

what am I talking about

1:25.0

Tony?

1:25.4

Yeah

1:26.6

of course

1:27.2

oh that's, that's funny. That was good, Tony. I like that. That's Tony, our sound guy, Frans. But look at how quickly the human brain works, right? I mean, it just... I salivated the minute you said that those healthy frosted flakes, I just love them. Yeah. I hadn't had them for years. I used to put sugar over my frosted plates. You did not. I used to put sugar on my frosted flakes too. You did. Buy the tablespoon. Oh, that's awful. Well, mom's not looking. Yeah. I'll tell you guys this morning, my brain had an attack by Tony the Tiger and frosted Flakes. And you guys have to understand, like, coming from Lebanon, right? I'm just this little four-and-a-half-year-old kid, hummus, falafel. I mean, that was my life, basically. And then I get introduced to Frosted Flakes. I haven't thought of Frosted Flakes in probably a couple of years. Yeah. And just, ha, ha, ha, intensity. I was more of a cinnamon toast crunch guy. Yeah. I still love. Yeah. Well, you hear some maybe unfamiliar voices, friends, or maybe familiar to some of you. Granger and Amber Smith are with us. We'll more properly introduce them in a minute. But favorite cereals guys? Yeah, I think I would, in the old days, a cinnamon toast

2:35.9

crunch guy. It's hard to handle now. Yeah, for sure. He changes that. Ray, remind us how many

2:43.2

boxes of cereal you bought one time? About 220. 220. They were large boxes of cereal. It was my favorite

2:49.6

cereal. I put them in a closet and all these atheists that were an Atheist Central would not believe

2:54.1

I purchased a pallet of cereal and had to take pictures of it and put them on my blog, an Atheist

...

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