Broken But Blessed
“God blesses those who mourn, for they will be comforted”
Matthew 5:4
This past week I have had two friends lose a loved one. Like you, I hate when the people I love hurt and I know there is really nothing I can do to remove the sting that death inflicts on us all. In moments like this I am reminded of the apostle Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” As much as you and I would like to stop the hurt and the pain our friends and loved ones may feel we can’t but God can. As the old saying goes, “God never wastes a hurt” and is why we always do well to point people who are in pain to Jesus, who offers comfort like no other.
Grief is real and it’s a terrible thing for anyone to have to endure and yet it touches us all at some point in this journey we call life. I read a couple of quotes this past week that now make sense to me as to why the Lord brought them to my attention. They were little gifts of comfort the Lord gave to me to give to those in need of comfort and encouragement due to the fact that when we are grieving we all tend to “forget the things we need to remember and we remember the things we need to forget.”
Regarding grief one quote I read said, “Grief is just love that has no place to go.” I felt that. Grief and loss can make you feel like you are a ship lost at sea floating on what seems like a vast sea of nothingness. Author and theologian C.S. Lewis who himself was no stranger to deep seated grief penned the following words, “Grief never ends but it changes. It is a passage not a place to stay. It is not a sign of weakness nor a lack of faith. It is the price of love. Below are a few quotes that I have found comfort in over the years and maybe today they might speak to you or someone you love who is going through a period of grief and are in need of comfort. I saved my favorite for last so make sure you read them all.
Grief and joy can and do co exist. It is like going to a party with a toothache. —C.S. Lewis
Christianity introduces us not to a God sitting in a deck chair but one hanging on a Cross who understands rejection, who understands pain, who understands grief and who understands loss. —C.S. Lewis
“The pain I feel now is the happiness I had before. That’s the deal.” —C.S. Lewis
“To have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever.” —J.K. Rowling
“What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” —Helen Keller
“There are no goodbyes for us. Wherever you are, you will always be in my heart.”
“If the people we love are stolen from us, the way to have them live on is to never stop loving them.” —James O’Barr
Psalms 34:18, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Lamentations 3: 31-33, “For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone.”
Psalm 147:3, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
Psalm 30: 5, “Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.”
The last quote I want to leave you with that I read this week that spoke volumes to my own heart said this, “The pain of parting cannot compare to the joy of being reunited.” Ponder that the next time you find yourself longing for someone you love. Yes, friend. May that hope pull you through the dark days of grief. Remember, instead of goodbye, its, “I’ll see you again, soon!” And yet, I get it, somedays, “soon is not soon enough!”
The Hope of the Resurrection
“And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words.”
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
I LOVE YOU!
Matthew 5:4
This past week I have had two friends lose a loved one. Like you, I hate when the people I love hurt and I know there is really nothing I can do to remove the sting that death inflicts on us all. In moments like this I am reminded of the apostle Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” As much as you and I would like to stop the hurt and the pain our friends and loved ones may feel we can’t but God can. As the old saying goes, “God never wastes a hurt” and is why we always do well to point people who are in pain to Jesus, who offers comfort like no other.
Grief is real and it’s a terrible thing for anyone to have to endure and yet it touches us all at some point in this journey we call life. I read a couple of quotes this past week that now make sense to me as to why the Lord brought them to my attention. They were little gifts of comfort the Lord gave to me to give to those in need of comfort and encouragement due to the fact that when we are grieving we all tend to “forget the things we need to remember and we remember the things we need to forget.”
Regarding grief one quote I read said, “Grief is just love that has no place to go.” I felt that. Grief and loss can make you feel like you are a ship lost at sea floating on what seems like a vast sea of nothingness. Author and theologian C.S. Lewis who himself was no stranger to deep seated grief penned the following words, “Grief never ends but it changes. It is a passage not a place to stay. It is not a sign of weakness nor a lack of faith. It is the price of love. Below are a few quotes that I have found comfort in over the years and maybe today they might speak to you or someone you love who is going through a period of grief and are in need of comfort. I saved my favorite for last so make sure you read them all.
Grief and joy can and do co exist. It is like going to a party with a toothache. —C.S. Lewis
Christianity introduces us not to a God sitting in a deck chair but one hanging on a Cross who understands rejection, who understands pain, who understands grief and who understands loss. —C.S. Lewis
“The pain I feel now is the happiness I had before. That’s the deal.” —C.S. Lewis
“To have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever.” —J.K. Rowling
“What we have once enjoyed we can never lose. All that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” —Helen Keller
“There are no goodbyes for us. Wherever you are, you will always be in my heart.”
“If the people we love are stolen from us, the way to have them live on is to never stop loving them.” —James O’Barr
Psalms 34:18, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
Lamentations 3: 31-33, “For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone.”
Psalm 147:3, “He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.”
Psalm 30: 5, “Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning.”
The last quote I want to leave you with that I read this week that spoke volumes to my own heart said this, “The pain of parting cannot compare to the joy of being reunited.” Ponder that the next time you find yourself longing for someone you love. Yes, friend. May that hope pull you through the dark days of grief. Remember, instead of goodbye, its, “I’ll see you again, soon!” And yet, I get it, somedays, “soon is not soon enough!”
The Hope of the Resurrection
“And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage each other with these words.”
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
I LOVE YOU!
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