I don’t know what you are going through, Beloved Reader, but God does… What I can tell you is something that I know more and more each day. If you drawer nearer to God, He WILL draw nearer to you, but in order to do that you need to TRUST that He will. And ALLOW Him to do so.
Lately Holy Spirit has brought Psalm 23 front and center to my grieving heart, you see – I lost my beloved husband in January and my adored mother in April. My grief has been two-fold and on top of that God is still in the process of healing my body from having gone through cancer – and YES, God STILL is a God Who heals. God has healed me. Numbers 23:19 tells us:
God is not a man, that he should lie…
God’s Word IS truth. God does NOT change. He STILL is the God Who heals, sometimes He heals on THIS side of the grave other times His healing takes place on the other. God is sovereign and because our thoughts are not His thoughts and His thoughts are HIGHER than ours, we sometimes have to release our “whys” to Him and trust that the One Who formed our loved ones in their mothers’ wombs, loves them MORE than we can fathom. Our love for them is miniscule compared to HIS love for them. I know it doesn’t take away the pain of missing them, but it comforts me to know JUST how much the Father loves them. Not one that belongs to Him will be lost.
Also, Hebrews 13:8 says:
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
So, you may read my words above and wonder how I can stay steadfast in my faith in God after enduring so much hardship and sorrow this year, I won’t lie to you and tell you that I haven’t cried out to God and repeatedly asked Him the “why” of it all. My husband and I had only been married for 6 years, God led me to Him late in life, but I will tell you this – while we may not have had “quantity” of years the “quality” of the love we shared is something that I will cherish and thank God for the REST of my life. And here is the thing:
LOVE NEVER DIES
I am not “angry with God” I am thankful. I have always believed that you should give someone you love flowers while their feet are on THIS side of the grave, leave NOTHING unsaid. And my Johnny and I left nothing unsaid, we loved each other deeply. Yet another example of God’s love for me, because He was the One Who brought the two of us together. (God’s best for you is better than ANYTHING you could find for yourself! 😉 )
It was the same with my mother, we left nothing unsaid to each other, my mother and I were very close – she was “my person.” I will miss her every day of the rest of my life… The death of a mother is a unique kind of pain – different from what I have experienced with anyone else. I guess that is because mothers are the ones who carry us. We are formed right below her heart while in the womb, her heart beat it is said comforts the baby she carries. I read somewhere that during pregnancy, cells from the fetus cross the placenta and enter the mother’s body, where they can become part of her tissues. I don’t know the truth of that, but I do know that the connection between a mother and child is unique and special, and that was definitely the case with my mom. Losing her so closely after losing my husband would have been my undoing if I did not know that they were with the One Who loves them waaaaay more than I EVER could – their Creator. My father passed away 22 years ago, and since his death, my mother had missed him EVERY remaining day of her life! She is with him now, reunited with all who have accepted Jesus’ gift of salvation. No longer living a sinful, fallen world that is filled with sickness, illness, disease, sin, worry and everything that causes one to have the burdens of daily life within their hearts. They are free and healed and VERY deeply loved. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13:9-12:
For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
Imagine how wonderful that must be for those who have gone on to be with Jesus before us? Full realizations for the “whys” of every question. Complete and total immersion of God’s love beyond ANY words I could write. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 2:9:
“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
Jesus told the Disciples in John 14:2-3:
“In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.”
When you experience loss or heartache you can do one of two things – you can draw nearer to the Father or you can alienate yourself and go farther away. When you alienate yourself, you make yourself vulnerable to the devil and his minions. Ol’ Slewfoot certainly does not want you to draw nearer to the One Who conquered death! Remember, your mind is his battlefield and because Ol’ Slewfoot hates ALL that God loves, he wants you to alienate yourself from the One Who is beckoning you to draw nearer to Him. The Bible says in Psalm 34:18:
“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
It says in Matthew 5:4:
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
Psalm 116:15 tells us:
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
And 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 says:
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.
I mourn because I MISS them, I rejoice because Our Savior has redeemed them and called them by name! And death was only their births into eternal, everlasting life! They are MORE alive NOW than they EVER were before! And God has promised me in His Word that I will see them again! And I know His Word to be truth! And the same is for anyone you have lost that has accepted Jesus’ gift of salvation.
YOU WILL SEE THEM AGAIN! AND WHAT A DAY OF REJOICING THAT WILL BE!
True comfort can only come from The Comforter otherwise known as Holy Spirit. I have come to love and appreciate the Third Person of the Trinity in a way I have never imagined. Holy Spirit not only has become my Guide, my Comforter and my Teacher – but He has also become my Friend. He brings the Word of God (the Bible) alive to me and helps me by making verses jump out of the pages to comfort me and instruct me at the times I need them most! For example, right now He has been shining His Light on Psalm’s 23 to me. I will share with you below my realizations and notes. The underlined italic parts are the verses from Psalm 23 and my personal notes (which I hope will comfort YOU through whatever YOU are experiencing) are written after the hyphen to show you how Holy Spirit has made this psalm minister to me in a personal way (which is why the Bible is called “The LIVING Word of God”).
The Lord is my Shepherd – Jesus IS my Shepherd (He is my Savior and Lord of my life) Revelations 7:17 tells us:
For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their Shepherd; ‘He will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
“I shall not want” – He literally has provided for my husband and I during the time we both went through cancer at the same time, we truly wanted for nothing.
“He makes me to lie down in green pastures” – After my husband and my mother’s death God pretty much made me to have to take an extended “quiet time” or “nap time” (like you would have a young child do because you know they needed to rest). He made it so I had NOTHING to do but spend time recovering in my home, He took away ALL distractions that kept me from spending time with Him. He cocooned me in.
“He leads me beside still waters” – As He cocooned me in the only thing I could do was utilize that time to pray, read my Word and draw nearer to Him in my grief. He kept panic attacks, fear and ANYTHING that would make me feel vulnerable and unsafe be squashed like a bug. I filled my house with praise and worship music, put on live presentations from a Christian Production Theatre (Sight and Sound Productions – the link is found above in my favorite links) and I let Holy Spirit minister to me making sure I also partook communion, anointed myself, my family and my home with oil and wrapped myself up in God’s love.
“He restores my soul” – Only the Creator can heal you in the way you need healing, be it physically, emotionally, spiritually. But you HAVE to let Him. God is in the process of “restoring my soul” the secret (again) is in the LETTING Him and the TRUSTING Him for He IS faithful.
“He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His namesake” – I belong to the Lord, I am His. Because Jesus’ is my Shepherd, I am His responsibility, He guides me and at the times when I am at my weakest (like I have been) He does what a Shepherd does to a lost or injured lamb, He lifts me onto His shoulders and carries me. (I will add it is very important to make sure you put on your spiritual armor when you are feeling your most vulnerable as described in Ephesians Chapter 6).
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” – Darkness could have clouded my thoughts and I could have given over to my grief as one who grieves without hope, yet God would not let me because He constantly has reminded me that He has (through His Son, my Savior and Lord Jesus Christ), defeated death by his death and resurrection! So, for those who have accepted His gift of salvation, the victory through Jesus is OURS. The Bible tells us that “God is close to the brokenhearted” so He is WITH me, He GUIDES me, He HEALS me, and He COMFORTS me.
“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over.” – You only have control over yourself, not anyone else. What is done or said in the darkness always comes out in the light. Keeping your eyes on the Lord and not on people allows God to show YOU the things YOU need to change about yourself and causes YOU to draw nearer to Him. Forgiveness is something you can offer but you are not responsible for if once you offer, if it is not accepted. I have learned to walk in love, not only for others (to the best of my ability) but ALSO for myself. My cup runs over when I know that I am right with God with no condemnation in my soul. If your heart desires a *right* relationship with God than Holy Spirit (throughout your walk in Christ) reveals those things that need changing within you and once He does, it is up to YOU to change them. If you don’t and choose (with your own free-will) to ignore it, you will stay spiritually stunted where you are at; God does not allow you to “graduate” and go up higher in your walk with Him until you pass whatever lesson He is guiding you through… He is showing you what needs changing about YOU (not someone else… There is no glory to Him in our “but God she/he/they did this!” whining attitudes and excuses! When I KNOW I have done ALL I can do, Holy Spirit helps me to govern myself and guard my peace and continue forward in my walk in Christ.
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me All the days of my life;” – My steps are ordered by God. My FAITH is in Him. My TRUST is in Him. We live in a fallen world and Jesus candidly warned the disciples in John 16:33:
‘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.’
There is nothing that can happen to us that catches God by surprise. There is NOTHING that is too big for our God to handle. We can lean on Him in our sorrow, in our hardships or whatever comes our way, and we can hold fast to our faith that “Goodness and His mercy” SHALL INDEED follow us ALL the days of our lives. In the midst of my sorrow, I have found joy in praising and worshiping God for having blessed me with such an extraordinary, loving, generous and caring woman he had ordained to be my mother. That He had blessed my time with my husband with a beautiful rare and loving closeness that allows me to be comforted by photographs and videos and memories of our time together. No matter WHAT I have faced, God has been there beside me carrying me when I was too weak to walk myself, comforting me with ALL His examples in the Bible that have shown me that He IS Still on His throne. His patience in my:
“WHY GOD?!!!”
Cries and His loving care that continues to wrap around me through the onslaughts of grief that comes and goes like unexpected waves. His goodness and mercy accompany me as I continue on determined to complete ALL that God has called me to do.
“And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.” – This is God’s promise to all Who have accepted His gift of salvation. Only God knows the number of our days, but I believe the Word of God and I know that once THIS life is over, We will be reunited with all those who have gone on ahead of us who have ALSO accepted Jesus’ gift of salvation, and best of all – We will see God face-to-face and according to Revelations 21:4:
He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
And at the end of this earthly life, we will be birthed into our everlasting eternal life as God has promised and will FINALLY dwell in His house FOREVER. Redemption and restoration in a RIGHT relationship with the Father, which is our WHOLE reason for our faith!
All of the above is a perfect example of how Holy Spirit has brought Psalm 23 personally alive to me at this time in my walk. Grieving those we love is normal and a process that we have to allow Holy Spirit to walk us through, be our Comforter and our Protector at our most vulnerable time. Allow the Father to “love on us” and bring us to a place where we can receive His comfort and healing. Death is NOT our portion, LIFE is – and thanks be to God for sending Jesus to be our Redeemer, we WILL be okay – He is with us ALL the way!
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