“Our faith in Jesus transfers God’s righteousness to us and he now declares us flawless in his eyes. This means we can now enjoy true and lasting peace with God, all because of what our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, has done for us. Our faith guarantees us permanent access into this marvelous kindness that has given us a perfect relationship with God. What incredible joy bursts forth within us as we keep on celebrating our hope of experiencing God’s glory!” (Romans 5:1-2 TPT)
No one tells you how much grief there is in parenting. Even the amazing and wonderful milestone moments – like taking a first step, or graduating to big-kid underwear, or first communion at church – can have twinges of grief as the parent recognizes the child will never be “that little” again. Today, after classes and much practice, my firstborn is taking the test to become a fully licensed driver. Another rite of passage? Yes, and helpful to our family’s transportation needs. But as I see things like high school graduation and launching from our home on the horizon, I can’t help but grieve a little. The window of time we have with this amazing and wonderful young person in our home is quickly closing. A parent can celebrate the great things of a child – but grief can surprise you in those moments, too.
And these are just the “little things.” Last night I saw a “big thing” as I attended a funeral visitation for the daughter of one of my Spiritual Mamas. This dear, sweet, God-filled woman was preparing to bury her first born today. We hugged, smiled, talked, and prayed together, and, overall, she was amazingly strong and hope-filled. The family knows the value of time together and faith because they know they received four bonus years after the serious cancer diagnosis. And they do not grieve as those who have no hope. They grieve for the loss of their daughter, sister, aunt, mother, but they grieve with hope in her resurrection and their eventual reuniting with her. God even gave her a glimpse of heaven before she died; all she could describe to her husband was that it was “So Beautiful!!” I believe God gave her this vision to comfort her husband and family, and so she could celebrate her hope of experiencing God’s glory.
Do you think Jesus’s mother Mary had the same hope when she watched him die a violent criminal’s death on the cross? My guess is that she knew the prophecies of the Messiah’s death and resurrection, but would that have been enough to stand up against the emotional agony of watching your son die in such a horrendous way? When the angel first announced her pregnancy to her, he told her to not fear. She would have remembered the angels’ announcement of the “Good news of great joy” at his birth; did she wonder where the angels were at his death? She was surrounded by friends, but where was her hope?
Ultimately, that is the question in grief: where is your hope? For Believers, our hope is in Jesus Christ, his death and resurrection, and his promises of our eternity with him. Our inheritance in Christ can never perish, spoil, or fade. Whether “little grief” or “big grief,” all grief would drown us in sorrow and hopelessness if we let it. But even the finality of death in this life is not the end. For believers, we always have a living hope because we are given a new birth into the reality of Jesus’s resurrection. The Psalmist said. “Our faith guarantees us permanent access into this marvelous kindness that has given us a perfect relationship with God. What incredible joy bursts forth within us as we keep on celebrating our hope of experiencing God’s glory!” This was enough to make us cry out, “ I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.”
This hope in Christ marks us when we walk through seasons of grief.
God of Living Hope,
Thank you that in your mercy you have given us a new birth into Jesus’s resurrection and an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade. Thank you that when we walk through seasons of grief, we can draw on the reality of the hope Holy Spirit places within us. Hallelujah to you who have broken every chain, setting us free from the laws of sin and death, and have given us salvation in your name. Today we pray for those who grieve – both the “little” and “big” things in life – and especially for those who have lost to death the ones they love. May your peace that passes understanding comfort them. Give them great hope in Christ and a deep understanding of your presence with them. We pray in the strong name of Christ, Amen.
“Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13 NIV)
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.” (1 Peter 1:3-4 NIV)
“Near the cross of Jesus stood his mother…” (John 19:25 NIV)
“As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.
My mouth will tell of your righteous deeds, of your saving acts all day long—
though I know not how to relate them all.” (Psalm 71:14-15 NIV)
“Then came the morning that sealed the promise
Your buried body began to breathe
Out of the silence, the roaring lion
Declared the grave has no claim on me
Jesus, yours is the victory.
“Hallelujah, praise the one who set me free
Hallelujah, death has lost its grip on me
You have broken every chain
There’s salvation in your name
Jesus Christ, my living hope.” (From “Living Hope” by Phil Wickham (c) Bethel Music)