Wednesday, April 2, 2014

God is Our Refuge

Proverb 14:32 When calamity comes, the wicked are brought down, but even in death the righteous seek refuge in God.

Proverb 18:19 The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.

Nehemiah 8:10 Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

I think about the disappearance of the Malaysian airplane, and I wonder what the families of the passengers on that airplane are feeling with the loss of their loved ones. The devastation, anger, and questions it must cause in their lives must be excruciating. How can people find peace in their hearts after a tragedy?  The only way for an individual to emerge from a depression of this magnitude  is by drawing strength form the Holy Spirit.  Without Jesus, all would be hopeless, but with Him there is hope.  There is hope that soon there will be joy in the memory of their lost loved ones rather than only pain for their passing.  This joy takes time to obtain, but God's presence and an intimate relationship with Him encourage the heartbroken to continue on.  Moment by moment God eases the pain by speaking to the the heart.  That peace that He gives becomes the peace of the one who is hurting.  One realizes  that Jesus knows about suffering from His sacrifice for us on the cross. He was tortued, crucified, and became sin because He loved us.  He is our refuge when we hurt because He knows exactly how we feel.  He was separated from His Father at the time of the crucifixion, and it must have been unbearable for Him. He was obedient, and His Hope for a reunion with God gave Him the strength to finish the course. Slowing but surely, the bereaved recognizes Jesus' great love for him, and then starts to notice little things that bring him joy. It starts with noticing His creation and moves to a renewed feeling of being happy to be alive. He is happy that there are caring friends and family who are still on this earth to comfort him.  God loves this support system and teaches this brotherly love through His commandments. Fellowship with others eventually brings a normalcy to the lives of the hurting one.  Relying on God, the person has a revival of hope, and his life no longer seems as burdened by loss.

I know the sadness of losing a loved one to old age, but my loss is different from an unexpected loss of a person in the prime of their lives. I have never experience this kind of shock and loss, but I pray that God would be able to reach my heart as he always has before.   A grieving process must take time and go through its stages, but God is our strength and carries us through it. We Christians need to reach out to those who are hurting so that we can be reflections of God's great love for them.