Friend, life is full of contrasts and juxtapositions. We will travel over mountains and go through valleys. We will enjoy pleasures and will suffer toils. We will have both victories and losses. One of the most challenging contrasts a man will wrestle with is this: how can a loving and compassionate God permit a loved one to die and break our hearts in such a devastating way? It is permissible to ask this question, and I have done so myself. I remember well my first heartbreak after losing to the grave someone dear to me. Grief is a powerful, even tormenting, emotion, one that Christ himself experienced at the loss of a friend. Yet, Jesus did not weep over the death itself because he knew his friend, Lazarus, would soon be raised from the dead, and ultimately, they would enjoy each other’s company again in eternity in Heaven. The tears of Jesus were actually tears of joy.
We have this same hope for each other and all those we love who also believe in Christ. You must hold onto this truth to help you bear with your suffering in grief, and you must teach it to everyone, especially those you love so dearly. You now live in a broken world, one that is beneath Heaven and less in every way than our glorious future home. Unfortunately, our broken world includes all the painful consequences of sin, even death, and you must endure them for a time. Your sins deserve all manner of griefs and sorrows, even the most severe. You are saved from ruin, however, by the grace you have in Christ, who took your sins and just punishment upon himself. If you believe in him, you, too, have victory over death and will rise to live and love again. Joy in everlasting life is the great reward for the Christian. The joy you will have in all that awaits you in Heaven more than outweighs all the causes for your sorrows today.
I must warn you that my words here are easy to accept when you are not in the depths of sorrow, but it will be quite a different matter when your heart is broken with grief. You will be tempted to pray that God will not take your beloved child or companion. In that time, you must remember that making your requests with confidence does not mean that God will grant everything you might ask of him. If your request is not consistent with his will, when one of the most passionate and legitimate prayers of your life seems to go unanswered, you may feel abandoned and think God has let you down. Your faith may be shaken so badly that you doubt all the wonderful things I have been teaching you. This is an understandable reaction, and I assure you, a temporary one. Your pain will never be completely gone because you will always be aware of a beloved one’s absence. But just as you might be filled with eager anticipation about the arrival of a cherished guest here on Earth, you can have that same anticipation about a reunion in Heaven. It may take your heart a bit to mend and begin to feel this anticipation, but it will come, and what a relief it will be for you.
Child of God, you will not be spared grief, but thanks be to Christ, neither will you be denied reunion. Believe this, and you will be uplifted by hope. May the unbelievers marvel at your composure as you suffer loss and grief and come to you begging to understand the reason for the hope that you have. Godspeed in that moment!
