Topic: Comfort in Grieve [Wednesday 25th October, 2017]
But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 1 Thessalonians 4:13
We’ve all lost someone dear to our hearts. We’ve also had to comfort someone that lost someone dear. The hardest part of losing someone is comfort. In those times it would appear that there are no suitable words for comfort, or all the words shared feel out of place, or just makes you feel more hollow. Some persons borrow from Job’s ignorant statement and say “the Lord gives, the Lord takes”. But this only makes us angry at God for taking and causing such pain. Why would He take the righteous that walks according to His will, and leave the wicked and unrighteous? Even I don’t know the answer. But the answer is irrelevant. What is relevant is our knowledge of the fate and hope of those that sleep in the Lord.
Paul says to the Thessalonians “but I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: then we which are alive and remain shall 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.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14, 16-17). We need not cry without end and hopelessly because we have lost a loved one, for we have a hope that as Christ was raised up, so also would they be raised up at the Second Coming, and we shall be caught up with them to be with Christ forever. This is our hope and comfort in grieve, that they rest in God and would be resurrected at the Second Coming, and that we would be caught up with them also.
“Wherefore comfort one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:18). There is no more hopeless grieve, we stand fast in hope and knowledge of the resurrection. And we therefore rejoice in anticipation of our seeing them again.
Keep winning daily.
Wise Action:
When next (its inevitable) you’re confronted with grief or placed in a position to comfort someone in grief, don’t jump to routine ineffective words. Use words of hope and comfort as provided in scripture, thereby not only comforting the grieved, but also boosting their hope and faith in God.
By Esun Tekeme