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Behold I am with you Always….

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33 NKJV

   Note – An excerpt written in “Life After Loss”

  I have walked this terminal journey more than once in my life.  The first time I found my feet on a path I never wanted to take was almost thirty years ago when my beautiful twin baby daughters were born with terminal heart disease.  I was so angry with God.  I wondered where He was, what happened to all His good and loving promises, and how He could ‘do’ this to me?  I fought God far longer than I should have.  Grief brought anger, and anger brought my fist up into God’s face.  Not wise, but very human.  As C.S. Lewis so wisely says, “arguing with God is like cutting off the branch you are sitting on.”

     So here I am decades later.  I have buried other loved ones; my parents, a beloved sister, and friends but now I face a terrible journey many are facing, have faced before me; and many more will face it after me.  My husband is slowly dying.  It doesn’t matter what he has.  It is progressive, incurable, and incredibly cruel.  My grief has been limitless.  He is the love of my life, my soul mate, my best friend.  He is dying a cruel, slow death, and he knows it.

     So where is God?  He is holding us in His loving hand.  He is carrying us through the sleepless nights, the tears that just never end, the broken hearts, and the shattered dreams.  In the vacuum left by so many losses, He has filled us with the sure hope of His love and His amazing promises.   When I cry out in the night, He is there.  When I fall to my knees in the cold, dark hours of the morning, He is there.  When I wonder what tonight or tomorrow will bring, He is there.  He never promised that life was going to be easy or even pleasant; what He promised is that He would walk the path with us.  He would be our Shepherd.  He would comfort us, love us, give us His strength, and someday take us to heaven.  Those are promises we can find rest in.  Those are promises that we can pin our hopes on and those are promises that will carry us through this awful road until the end. 

         Over and over again the Bible points out that this world because of sin, is filled with heartache.  Heartache that we can cause ourselves through poor choices, heartache that others cause us, and heartache that comes with sickness.  It is into this world that our Savior came; and in coming, living a perfect life and dying for us; He overcame sin, death and hell. He promises to shepherd us and carry our burdens with us, and He promises that He will never leave us. In John 10:11 Jesus declares that He is our Good Shepherd: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” 

    Jesus told us He has ‘overcome the world’ and not to fear.  He was a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.  In Isaiah 53:3 it prophesies: He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

    Too often it is easy to feel that God’s love is tied to our blessings not our trials.   Let us look for a moment at what God says in His Word; In John 16:33 Jesus says: “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Jesus told us we would have sorrows and troubles.  Please note Jesus never said that if we follow Him our lives would be easy and trouble free.  That is our own wishful self-centered thinking.

     You and I are not alone in our struggles.  He sees every tear, every mess, every sleepless night.  He is our constant companion, and He will carry our loved ones home to Him someday. 

     So how do we make it through what is humanly impossible to endure?  We must look beyond what is human, beyond the fading dreams and hopes of this world.  We must look to God’s good promises and the renewal of the hope that He brings.  Hope for strength, hope for guidance, hope for salvation, hope for heaven, hope for eternity and renewal. The world fades and betrays, God’s promises remain firm.

    Prayer

 Lord, I have no strength, it is long gone. Lord I am lost and the way is so dark that I cannot see.  Help me, Lord.  Pick me up and carry me.  Grant me renewed hope in you and your amazing mercy. Amen.