God through the Grief

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort..."

     Death brings pain. It brings suffering, grief, and a sense of overwhelming loss. To know that someone I love has lost someone they love... it hurts. I grieve for them and with them, because death is a sting that can only be overcome by the One who has power to overcome it. Even though I know that death for a Christian is the gateway to life, it's difficult to accept that they will no longer be with us for a while. It's difficult, and it is dismaying. But God is the God of all comfort. Comfort through persecution, comfort through uncertainty, and comfort through loss. It's not our strength that will prevail; it's His. It's not we who know the secret to comfort; it's Him. He's the only one who can sustain through times of loss because He's the only one who truly knows what it is like to lose someone unjustly. For us, death is the wages of sin. When God, though, gave his son to death on the cross, it was not the wages of His sin. It was the wages of our sin. God handed His son over to sin. Jesus was lashed, humiliated, tortured, and killed for something someone else had done-- for something everyone else had done. That is loss.
     It was for a reason, though. Three days later, God worked the most miraculous, joyous, and glorious miracle that has ever been done on the face of the earth. He conquered sin with His power, He put it to shame with His might. No longer was the loss of Jesus a catastrophe; it was transformed into a tool by which the sins of the world were paid for, and man could be restored to God through faith in Christ. The story didn't end with death. It ended with life.
     For Christians, death doesn't just signal the end of an era, it signals a beginning. Grieving is acceptable and even good. It is a chance for us to vent our pain and suffering, and it shows the extent of our love. However, grieving isn't to last forever. Just as Christ's resurrection changed the course of the world and gave the disciples new hope, so our lives must continue after loss and grief, even if it is different. In fact, it will never be the same. That is the very reason why we are able to live a life of fulfillment and peace after losing someone to death's grip; "He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God." Loss is excruciating and maddening, but with Christ the loss will turn to growth. We are filled with the life of Christ. Hang on. Hold on to hope. Trust in the Lord. Grieve, be saddened, but be not paralyzed. Yahweh is here.