The radio was on for background noise the other day, I was listening to Christmas music...then Focus on the Family came on interviewing Bo Sterns, whose husband passed away after a bout with ALS....
Then I finished a Bible Study by Jennifer Dean and her testimony was at the end of the book..her husband had passed away quickly from brain cancer...
Each of us, not knowing the other, but with much in common...we have lost our significant other after years of marriage...
We each had partners for life...
Our children lost their fathers...
All had been involved in ministry of some kind...whether full time or as a side line...
Each used their gifting to increase the kingdom...
Each husband faced death with "finishing well"...
Each husband will be or are sorely missed this holiday season...
We had lost parents, children...loss
2 Corinthians 1:8-9 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death.
But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.
Paul wrote these words...under much distress ...and it fits these times of mourning..."to rely God"...
Someone told me that Jesus would become a deeper friend than I had ever experienced after my husband's passing...so true ..
Jennifer wrote, "I realize that the great wound inflicted on my heart has made me desperately dependent on God in a way I never would have known otherwise."
Mrs. Sterns related the same sentiment.
As Christians, We are not promised life without pain, indeed, we are to expect suffering...BUT, we have a God who stands with us, in us, before and after us whom we can rely on to walk with us, carry us through to His amazing promises...His amazing comfort...
That little child...born so poor, the Creator in swaddling cloths, lying in a dirty manger, The Good Shepherd visited by amazed shepherds, the Light of the world proclaimed by Heavenly Hosts...did He write the Words which the Angels sang...did He hold on to Mary's finger to comfort her for future pain...did he cry for the pain He knew was in the world he was entering as a baby , for the comfort that only He could give...did the stable become a royal room, prepared as He is preparing our heavenly home...
Yes, our Christmas is coming...our celebration of Jesus' birth...thank YOU...help us to mourn as we should ...depending on You in those hard moments, those miraculous moments....
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