Grief

Life is filled with difficulties.
Jesus acknowledged this when He said: “Each day has enough trouble
of its own” (Matthew 6:34). 

But even though each day brings its share of trouble, some days bringing more than others, there is another promise about what each day brings our way: “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23). 

God even redeems the troubles themselves: “For our … troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
That glory is so great that our troubles are “light and momentary”
(2 Corinthians 4:17) by comparison. 

In the midst of grief, that is very difficult to see. 

But we see Jesus, “a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering” (Isaiah 53:3).
He understands our pain and shares it with us. 

And He has given us a truth of great comfort:
"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25-26). 

In life, we face enemies, and: “The last enemy to be destroyed
is death” (1 Corinthians 15:26).
But in Jesus, death has no sting: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. "Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55). 

When we grieve, we see death in the loss of our loved one.
But death would like to take other things from us: things like joy and hope and faith. 

So the Scriptures have promises for the living as well: 

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body” (2 Corinthians 4:8-11). 

“A bruised reed he will not break, and a smouldering wick
he will not snuff out” (Isaiah 42:3a). 

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). 

“Casting the whole of your care, all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully” (1 Peter 5:7 Amp.). 

When life’s troubles crash in on us too quickly, we feel like a house about to be washed away in a storm. We feel so weak and the storm so strong. But Jesus said that it doesn’t matter if the house in the storm is weak All that matters is the foundation. The rain can come and the streams rise, and the winds can blow their fury against our house, but our house will not fall because it has its foundation on the Rock (Matthew 7:25). 

And Jesus, knowing the weariness of life in the storm, says: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls”
(Matthew 11:28-29). 

Sharon Currens