That is a tall order today.}
Good morning,
This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24
As has been alluded to in recent posts, my church family has been going through some grievous times these past couple of weeks. On Oct. 1st, we marked the one-year anniversary of the death of one of our sweetest, most devout teens, killed in a car accident. Near that same time, a couple in our church lost their adult son to death. Then, four days ago, another couple lost their adult son. Then, three days later, tragedy struck again, this time snatching from us the precious 5-year old son of our children's pastor. In addition to this, Hubster and I lost a friend (from a neighboring church) to a brain aneurysm.
We, and our church family, are simply "beside ourselves" with grief.
Psalm 116:3 describes deep grief as "the pains of Sheol (or Hell) got hold of me". The Psalmist describes the situation as one of "being tied up with strong cords" by death. The word picture that his contemporaries would have understood was that of a creditor tying up a person who owed him money, tying him up so securely that he could not escape until the account was settled.
Tied up, "encompassed" by death. Bound up in grief.
Most of us have "been there" - - overtaken by the trouble and sorrow which accompany the death of a loved one. Some of us have gone there and are having a very hard time being set free. It is normal and right to grieve the loss of a dearly beloved. It is not the way of our God to live there, imprisoned in our grief to the point that we are destroyed.
If you are an unbeliever, someone who reads my posts out of curiosity, let me tell you a secret.
Christians grieve differently. We love deeply, because we seek to imitate the love of Jesus Christ, modeled for us. We feel our losses as keenly as anyone who do not know Jesus.
The difference is that our grieving is infused with what the Bible calls "hope" (1 Thessalonians 4:13).
The word "hope" in the New Testament is not the same as our English word. In this verse and many others, the Greek word "elpida" means "a calm assurance".
A calm assurance of what? Christians believe that by knowing Jesus Christ as Savior we will never truly die. Our bodies will certainly continue to deteriorate, with each day we live, until they succumb to physical death, at which point our eternal spirits will be released to go be with our LORD. We will remain with Him forever, until and even past that grand day when He returns to Earth to raise our mortal bodies, convert them to a "forever body" and reunite our eternal spirits with that immortal body forever. To fellow Believers who cross over into eternity before us we say, "Later, 'Gator!" We love you desperately, and will miss you terribly. But, we know we will love you until the end of all time and beyond. And, we will see you, be with you, love you again, after we have stepped from here into eternity to join you and our most-beloved Savior, Jesus Christ. It is He, and only He, who has broken the binding cords of Hell and Death (Acts 2:24).
Oh sure, there are times like this when we are tempted to "throw it all in". Praying last night, I said to the Lord, "You know, it is in moments like this - - - moments when it seems our prayers were not heard, moments when we don't understand Your ways, moments when we lose precious, little souls like Christian, that I am tempted to stop believing." It is just so hard to understand! I wish you knew these families who have suffered the worst of losses this week! Godly people! People who serve their Savior faithfully, humble people who love their LORD! It just doesn't seem "fair".
While at the hospital on Wednesday, praying over little Christian, I was blessed by a short conversation with Stephanie, the mother of the teen who was taken from us a year ago. She said, "I am so thankful!" Then, she proceeded to tell me of how God has blessed her over and over in the past 12 months. In the middle of her ongoing grief, she is embracing the goodness of the LORD.
I pray that you know the calm assurance that comes from having received Jesus' offer of eternal salvation, that He is your Lord as well as your Savior. At no time in this earthly life is His love any sweeter than when we lose those most dear to us. It is then that His arms hold us the tightest. It is in those times that we often say to each other, "How do people live without Jesus? How do they make it through this life's most severe trials?" There is no sweeter life than walking with Him, both here and in The Thereafter.
The Psalmist begins Psalm 116, a cry of deep grief, with the words, "I love the Lord" and he ends the psalm with the words, "Praise the Lord". The LORD is always good to His children. He is always righteous. His compassion towards His Beloved knows no end.
Dear Father, even though we know the Truth, even though we know that little children and Believers go to be with You at their moment of physical death, our hearts are broken by the losses we have sustained these past few days. We are so in need of your healing love, Your matchless comfort, Your supernatural peace. Please bathe us in it as we continue to minister to each other in our sadness. There is no earthly hope that can compare to the certainty of Your "blessed hope", Father. I am so thankful that You made a way for our souls to be reconciled to You. I am so grateful that I will one day see my precious loved ones, my fellow Believers, again in that great, holy City Not Made by Human Hands. So humbly grateful, LORD. In Jesus' name, amen.
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