1 Reminder when grieving

Recently, I have witnessed a couple of expatriate friends struggling to accept the sad news of their father’s passing away. My colleagues were both mighty men at church. And for years tried to provide for their dad’s medical expenses while continuously asking God for healing. In the end, both dads succumbed to a lingering illness. Currently, both of them are trying to come to grips with the reality that they have lost a loved one.
It was difficult for me to relate to their situation. As an outsider looking in, the struggle they are currently at is just like a walk in the park. But to them, it might be like free-climbing a 50 ft slippery wall. We are not talking about losing a pen here. We are talking about losing someone valuable! They had lost someone who held their hand when they couldn’t walk and fed them when they were hungry. A man they knew they can always run to when in need. A man who made every effort to protect and assure them that tomorrows would be better. What happens next now that the go-to man is gone? The man that genuinely loved and cared for them.

Becoming followers of Christ does not assure us of smooth sailing life. But what it promises is a life that, although shaken, will not crumble.
As I read my Bible today, I got reminded of a man who didn’t lose his father but his son. That man was David. He bore a son out of an affair with a woman who was bathing on the roof. David prayed and wept for days hoping that the Lord would be gracious to him and would let the boy live. Despite all the prayers and petition, the boy died. What happens next is astonishing. David rose and started worshipping the God who took his son away.

This baffled David’s servants. Shouldn’t he be in mourning mode? On the contrary, he cleaned himself and started singing songs in worship. Why? I don’t know. All I can do is speculate that maybe it’s because he understood that God was sovereign.

Bottomline – he knew God! He knows God is good. And that good God took his son away, and He is now in a better place. He knew God is in control and that tomorrow will indeed be better because God cares. My friends know and believe that they have a Father in heaven who will always be with them until the day they have to depart this world too.
As a side note, we won’t have our friends and family with us forever. While the opportunity is still there, let us keep on sharing the gospel and tell them that the gift of salvation and eternal life is theirs for the taking.