Blessed Hope – Hope Wins – Day 26

I found that after my husband’s death, the first few nights were the hardest. The finality of death can strip away hope and leave you empty inside. Here’s a passage from my book, The Power of Hope in Mourning: Ride the Waves to Comfort:

“The morning after my husband died, I woke up with sobs racking my body. They were so intense that I walked outside so I would wake up my son who still lived with me at the time. I sat on the steps on the front porch and gave vent to the intense sorrow that welled up from the very core of my being. My overwhelming emotions literally took my breath away. My heart physically hurt and my side ached. I don’t know how long I wept. I do know that it was dark when I went out and I saw the sunrise. This became a pattern for the following months. I gave myself permission to fully embrace the tears and everything I was feeling. At times, I felt like I was going to drown in an ocean of grief.”

Those words clearly describe the first huge waves that I rode to comfort. I embraced the process and continued to let myself be swept away by the sorrow of the separation. At the end of each ride, though I would end in a poignant memory and was comforted. I was blessed with hope, comfort and encouragement.

Paul was visiting with Timothy about the church in Thessalonica that Paul founded. Paul is so proud of these young believers and very grateful for their spiritual growth. He is, no doubt, repeating to them the teaching he gave them in person. In this passage, it seems clear that some of the members had died and they were grieving. In chapter 4 Paul admonishes them to go ahead and grieve. He understands the pain you feel due to the separation of death. He instructs them to inject hope into the equation as they look forward to the chain of events that will happen when Christ returns. There is great comfort in receiving the revelation that there is much more to look forward to in eternity. There is more than life on this earth and that provides the main reason to hope even in the face of death.

Many are uncomfortable with the death of a loved one because they were hanging on to the hope that they would be healed. When that does not happen and life does not turn out as you would have planned it, you are left empty and hopeless. Then when we gather with others there can be those awkward moments of vulnerability when we don’t know what hto say. For some reason we feel compelled to try to make the one who is grieving feel better. They are trying so hard to make sense of it all. And, just when we need to be crying with those who cry, we say something stupid like, “Well, they are in a better place and are no longer suffering.” Now, that is true and is fine if the person who is grieving receives that revelation from the Lord and expresses it. But, if you are saying it because you are uncomfortable with the topic of death then you need to be quiet. The best thing you can do is give a hug and say nothing. Cry if they are crying.

 Even as I wept bitterly for the physical separation from my husband, this verse encouraged me. My husband’s last breath on earth finished with a full gulp of Heavenly air. He was shackled to a body that had betrayed him and now he was free. I could picture him running again, raising his arms all the way up and shouting praises to his Lord and Redeemer. This is a profound teaching that separated these young Christians from those that surrounded them. They did not get overwhelmed as they grieved because they had a deep expectation of joining their loved ones in Heaven.

HOPE WINS!

 

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