Psalm 147:1-3 Praise the Lord!
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
for it is pleasant, and a song of praise is fitting.
The Lord builds up Jerusalem;
he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.
This past weekend my grandfather went to be with the Lord. When I think of him, I remember a strong man that could fix anything, I remember the big black boots that were the only shoes I ever saw, and I remember going to hear him preach when we went to visit. I know there is no small connection to seeing that as a kid and me being in ministry now. I hope that you have someone in your life that you can look to as an example of life-long, steadfast faith. For now however, the world feels a little worse off without him in it.
Thankfully as believers we know that this is not the end of his story. Praise the Lord! He is in heaven rejoicing free of the shackles and pain of our earthly form. And though we need to deal with the complicated feelings of grief in the here and now, we can look forward to being reunited one day in the future.
Grieving is hard and so much more complex than just being sad. No matter how imminent or expected a loss may be, it still hits like a ton of bricks when the time comes. Fortunately, we have a God that is ready for anything we are going through.
1 Peter 5:7 tells us to cast all our cares upon Him because He cares for you—not some cares, not the socially acceptable struggles, not just the ones you’re ready to admit. No, God wants to hear all of what we are going through. We gain nothing by trying to white-knuckle our way through the hard times.
He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. The pain will eventually dull, even if it never fully goes away. There is more life to live past these sad times. And though it feels like a piece is missing you are surrounded by people that love you and support you. The world lost a great man this weekend, and he will be dearly missed. May we be the ones that use the losses we face to grow closer to God and each other.
Go tell someone how much you love them.