Matthew 5:4
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Romans 12:15
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
15 Rejoice with those who
rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.
2 Corinthians 1:3-7
New International Version 1984 (NIV1984)
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all
comfort,4 who
comforts us in all our troubles, so that we
can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received
from God. 5 For just as the sufferings
of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our
comfort overflows. 6 If we are distressed, it is
for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is
for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same
sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm,
because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
We never know the time and the hour that we may mourn or that we
will mourn with others because of the loss of a loved one. This weekend that is what I have been called
to do. We lost a very dear friend who
had been like a big brother to our daughter and like a son to us. He called us Mom and Pops and was a young man
that brought a smile to our face when we saw him. We have fond memories of him and yet there
are others in his life that have many more memories and were very close to him,
his wife, his children, and his brother among many more family members and
close friends. It is hard to believe
this vibrant young man has been taken home and we all ask and wonder why this
had to happen. We will probably never
have the full answer on this earth but what we can do is to trust our God that
He knows what He is doing and that His plan is the perfect plan.
Sin came into this world, not by our choosing but if it would have
been our choice we would have done the same thing. Who would we be kidding if we said we would
have done it differently? Sin is here and as we are told in Romans
3: 23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. None of us have done all things perfectly
except through Jesus Christ our Lord. We
are perfect through Him because He lived a perfect life and did so many
wonderful miraculous things for people.
Yet, He was scorned, beaten, spat upon, and nailed to the cross so that
we could have eternal life. So that we
could bring praise and glory to our Father God, He was willing to sacrifice His
life. God’s law forbids a man to take
the life of an innocent man but yet He allowed it to happen so that we could have
eternal life with Him. Christ knows what
it is like to suffer, to mourn, to be tempted by sin which makes Him our
ultimate comforter. We don’t like to see
death and neither does God our Father.
He watched as a part of Him was crucified and placed in a tomb. Yet He knew that victory was close by. Victory in the new life, the eternal life,
with no separation from God our Father can be assured when we confess Jesus as
Lord.
This life brings troubles, disappointments, sorrow and grief but
as we seek the Lord, He brings comfort, strength, and peace. In this deep sorrow, I thank the Lord for a church
family that surrounded us in prayer, who wept with us last night and wept for
our friend’s family even though they did not know any of them, that is mourning
with those who mourn. May all of us remember to cling to Him in our sorrow so
that one day we will be able to rejoice with Him in our new life where there
will be no more sorrow and no more pain.
Seeking Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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