Do You Ever Wonder Why?

In my work I spend a lot time dealing with grieving families. Death is always sad. There is a natural sense of loss and sorrow connected with death. Even our Lord wept when he went to the tomb of his dear friend, Lazarus (John 11:35). There is no shame in shedding tears.

But, from time to time I encounter families which are clearly not prepared to deal with the loss of a loved one. For them life seems unbearable. How can they possibly go on? Life is no longer meaningful. Their grief is overwhelming. They enter into a state of depression that can last for months and sometimes years.

How is it that some are able to handle the loss of a loved one so well, while others struggle to regain any sense of normalcy in their lives?

I think the answer can be found in a brief passage in one of Paul’s letters. He wrote:

Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him…the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so shall we ever be with the Lord. Therefore comfort each other with these words (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).

Christians do not see death as defeat. It is not the end.

We know our loss is only temporary. We will be reunited. Death is victory, not defeat (1 Corinthians 15:57). It is that knowledge which bolsters the spirit and lifts the heart in the hour of grief. When a Christian dies there is sorrow, but not like the world experiences. Our sorrow is tempered by the knowledge that awaiting us is “a building of God, an eternal house in heaven” (2 Corinthians 5:1).

What legacy will we leave to our loved ones?

Will they come to our graveside with hearts filled with hope or despair? May God help us to live right and die ready so that our loved ones will “sorrow not as others which have no hope.“