It is a breathtakingly, brief life. I will walk with you every step of the way. One day I approached a town where a mother observed her only son carried out in a procession of people for burial. My heart immediately went out to her, and I said, “Don’t cry.” I knew the question she must be pondering after the loss of her husband. Why did my son have to die? My heart breaks for every father and mother that loses a child. I told her not to cry. I said to the young man, get up. He sat up and began to talk, and I gave him back to his mother. (There is no Closure with Grief and Loss)
I also suffered and died in a world full of numbing pain to conquer death’s grip. Suffering and dying are the backdrops of life. Life coexists with pleasure and pain, never to be separated. However, heartache and grief do not have to negate your zeal for living. I came to restore hope and heal shattered dreams. Life is a gift to be cherished amid hardship and suffering. There is the promise as I rose on the third day; you and your loved ones shall live with me beyond the grave. At this moment, do not let your suffering cause you to lose trust in living. (My Comfort)
As the apostle, Paul proclaims, death where O death is your victory? Where, O death is your sting. He then declares it is rendered powerless in the triumph of the resurrection.
Reflection: I would take nothing away from the grief you feel today. I would not say to you that everything is all right. Because it is not, and you know it. You hurt. And we know you will hurt for a long time. God made us for a relationship with one another. When that relationship is lost, we feel the crushing pain of wondering how we will go on in life. You have lost a loved one – and you will never be the same person again.
Response: Let your losses gently guide into new ways of loving and caring for yourself and others. The pathway forward is never easy, but worth it to experience the richness of what life holds until the Heavenly Father welcomes us home.
Scripture: Soon afterward, Jesus went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went along with him. As he approached the town gate, a dead person was being carried out—the only son of his mother, and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the town was with her. When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her, and he said, “Don’t cry.” Then he went up and touched the bier they were carrying him on, and the bearers stood still. He said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother. Luke 7:11-15 NIV
Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 NIV
