Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Grief is a tunnel not a cave

"Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart!" Psalm 119:2 NKJV

"Once the Holy Spirit instills within our hearts the hunger for God's very best, all must and will become secondary to this supreme goal: " . . .the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 3:14). Our puny, worthless all exchanged for the One who is All in all! "For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things: to Whom be glory for ever. Amen" (Romans 11:36).

The above Scripture and quote is from "The Hungry Heart Devotioanl Series" by Miles J. Stanford. I read it after returning from the funeral service of a young man whose life came to an abrupt end. Surrounded by loved ones the family is grieving a loss. There is a hole in their hearts and lives now that only God Himself can fill...and over time, I'm sure He will, meeting each of them exactly where they are.

It was during the funeral service that their senior pastor and friend encouraged them with three things critical to the care of their grieving souls.

1. Christ: Christ alone, in all, through all, above all is the hope that we cling to in the midst of overwhelming sorrow and suffering.

2. "Grieving is not a cave, it's a tunnel": we don't go into a grief cave, roll a stone over the opening and never, ever come out. Instead, we realize that grief is a tunnel which we have entered and as dark, as solitary, as brutally painful and unbearable as it may seem, there is another side that we will arrive at. Yes, we will go in, and in moments it will feel and be deep and profoundly dark...and yet, as we keep walking, remembering the God of hope who is in and through it all with us, we will all come through.

3. Hold hands: reach out to one another, cling to one another, allow those around you to hold you up and be arms of support when you are weak. Never let go of the strength found in the body of Christ. Hold hands. 1

My hope, my prayer, for all of us is to remember the supreme goal. No matter what, seek with our whole hearts God's very best, and in the midst of our worst suffering remember that He is with us, will never, ever leave us or forsake us, and we will be blessed!

Stephanie

1 Pastor Tim Shorey, Trinity Fellowship Church, Toms River, NJ 

1 comment:

Unknown said...

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darlene
http://visionmapvideo.blogspot.com/