Comfort in Sorrow 4

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

“Into every life a little rain must fall.” This is an old adage you may have heard in your lifetime. Life is not completely filled with happiness and bliss. Now and then there will be rain – those moments of sadness and troubles. And sometimes that rain can take the form of a loss of a loved one.

Life is said to be a mystery. And death is considered by most to be a journey into the unknown. Many fear death because they do not know what awaits them on the other side. At the very least it can be a topic most people do not want to discuss and something almost everyone wishes to avoid.

But Paul has some confident words about the death experience. What is his purpose in what he has to say? What does he remind us about our faith? What is our hope?

While it is true that most people would rather have days of sunshine rather than rain, rain is essential to life. It gives us the ability to grow. It renews and cleanses. And so too can be the experience of a loss.

When we are faced with grief and sorrows we must remember our faith. These times of sadness can be a time when we renew our strength in what we believe. They can be times when we are reminded of the hope we should all hold. Times of loss can be turned into times of hope and optimism.

Whenever we lose a loved one, when we encounter a sudden emptiness in our lives, we can be reminded all over again of what we believe. As Paul says, we believe Jesus died and rose again. And that resurrection was meant to be a promise to all of us who believe.

While it may not be fitting to say that we should rejoice in a death, we can be glad in the confidence we have. Death is not an end of things. It is simply a transition from this life into a new and brighter life with God. And in that knowledge we can have gladness and hope.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How will you find hope in sorrows?

Joyful in Hope 5

1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

I remember quite clearly when my father died more than 25 years ago. Our family, especially my mother, fell into incredible despair at his sudden passing. Those were dark days, a time when we felt abandoned and alone. We grieved for some time.

But eventually time moved on and we were able to go about life as best we could. In time I became aware that there was indeed a hope that we could all share. Although gone from this mortal life, my father had passed into an immortal life with Christ.

This passage from the first letter to the church at Thessalonica offers hope to those who may grieve or despair. What is the purpose of this writing? What do we as Christians believe?

I find it interesting that the comment is made that this proclamation of faith is intended to dispel any ignorance. Those who do not know Jesus are ignorant of the hope that we can all have.

The comment is made that we should not “grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.” It does not say that we should not grieve. Grief, sorrow, sadness, times of depression are part of life and when we suffer a loss or are in distress we are going to experience this pain and sadness.

But our grief should not be a hopeless grief. Our grief should be a temporary state from which we rise with a hope. That hope is in the knowledge that Jesus died and rose again. And it follows, then, that if Jesus died and rose again, all who believe in him will also rise again, rise into an eternal life with God.

And that hope applies to all our worries and distress. We may need to spend some time being concerned over what is happening around us. We can feel discouraged by the financial turmoil of our society. We may be distressed over the attitudes and behaviors of people we see. We may even be experiencing the sorrows of losing a loved one.

But we must remember this feeling can be overcome. Our distress and troubles are overcome by the mercy and love of God. And that should present us with hope.

Having such hope should turn our sorrows and our worries into joy. It may be difficult to achieve, but we should be joyful because our hope is based on the firm, unshakable truth that we are loved by God and we are beneficiaries of Christ’s great mercy and sacrifice.

DAILY CHALLENGE: How might you still have hope even as you grieve?