This week
has been a week of loss. We lost my grandmother, a dear friend lost a family
member and the Christian blogging community lost a sweet, sold out to Jesus
soul – that loss is still gripping me this morning.
Personally
speaking – in the midst of my cries for peace and comfort have been shouts of “why”
and “help me understand Lord.” Death is never easy…it’s a lighter blow when it
comes at the end of lengthy, uphill health battle…but easier, NO. But when
death comes unexpectedly – to a young mama of 4 kids or a teenager just
starting to make their mark on this world – death becomes deeper. And if we’re
not careful we’ll let that deep hurt seep in and become whispered lies of the enemy
that our God is not faithful, our God is not good…or God is not an ever present
help…
Yeah, the
enemy likes to take times like this and use them to create a divide between us
and the only One with the power to heal that deep hurt, to give peace in those
moments of devastation – to bring about assurance where that doubt has
sparked up.
Psalm 73:26
tells us:
“My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion
forever.”
No – my ‘self’…my
carnal mind will not understand…grief can be a catalyst for doubt and fear and
worry…and that’s why we desperately need to cry out to the Father during these
times of heartache – because our strength will never be enough and our flesh
will deceive us.
The Geneva
Study Bible says ‘portion’ means “God is our whole sufficiency, and ONLY
contentment”.
God is our
ONLY contentment! When the storms of life arise and bad, unjustifiable things happen
to good people – the world would have us blame God – but the Word shows us God
is the only comforter that will suffice. He is our whole sufficiency – meaning nothing
apart from Him will be enough to fill that void left by loss in our lives.
I’ve often
heard that noting in life is certain…but death. It’s a morbid truth that still
doesn’t make the sting of life lost any less painful. And believe me – questioning
God’s motives or lack thereof, having doubt in the goodness of God, allowing
our faith to slip in times of troubling circumstances only further delays the
comfort and peace God longs to give us during these times.
But…I can
promise (because I have been there this week) – crying out to God, letting God
take all that pain and turn it into peace, is possible. He hasn’t equipped us
to live this life alone – to carry these burdens by ourselves. He absolutely
will allow us to go through things that we can NOT bear on our own – because it
drives us back to where we belong…at the feet of Jesus, allowing Him to carry
those burdens for us – and to give us strength to face each day that follows.
What do we
do when devastating things happen? When heartache hits, when tragedy blindsides
us; go to the Father. God tells us in Isaiah 41:10 He will “strengthen you and
help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”
And He will…He
has given me comfort and strength this week – He has made grief and the pain of
death more bearable…all I had to do was seek Him…and I found that our God IS
faithful, our God IS good and our God IS a an ever-present help.
