9135

His

Overflowing

Peace

Eternally

As I sit under the olive tree we planted at Christopher’s gravesite, I can’t help but think what might have come of me had I not had hope! Hope in my Savior and what He did on the cross for me. Hope in seeing Christopher again. Hope in teaching my girls about the love of my Lord—a love so great He sent His only Son to die on a cross so that we may have eternal life with Him and with all those who believe in Christ Jesus. How could I not have hope, knowing the promises my God has given me in His Word?

In 1 Thessalonians 4:13 He commands us, “Do not grieve as those with no hope.” We will see our loved ones again! Heaven is a real place, the dwelling place of our God, and until it is His time for me to join Him there with my loved ones, I have a work to be done here. He has a plan that far exceeds my expectations. Though I may not understand or see the works as He does, I must trust in His ways and use every opportunity to glorify the Lord in everything I do!

The Lord tells us about this day in Revelation 21:4: death is gone for good—tears gone, crying gone, pain gone. Jesus came to redeem this whole creation, not just to take us to heaven. So I must continue on in my duty as a Christian and use my life to glorify Him and share my hope with others who do not yet know Him.

Though my suffering in this present time is great, I cannot compare it to the greater good, to God’s grace. This suffering has built my character; it has strengthened my urgency to know more about God and to share His love for us with others. Romans 5:2–5 says to “rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” This suffering has brought me to my knees and brought me closer to my God. I know the One in control! I trust Him and have hope in His future for me.

So what do you do in a time of grief or trials? Pour your heart and your mind into those things you know are true of the Lord. Hope for us comes through the Word, because He loves us! We need to turn to God first in troubled times because He is the hope we are looking for. I may not remember a lot from that first year of grief after Christopher went to be in heaven. I lost my best friend, husband, the daddy to my girls, my security, but I had my Lord! When I look at my journals and my prayer book, I see His faithfulness and I see that by pouring myself into His Word I got through something I never would have thought possible.

We are not promised all good things for those who believe in the Lord. Far from that, we are essentially made the target of the enemy, Satan. Look at the story of Lazarus in John 11; suffering comes to those the Lord loves. Lazarus was one of the closest friends Jesus had on this earth and yet he was forced to die not just once but twice! But Psalm 28:7 tells us that those who put their hope in God will be helped.

Our hope comes from the promises of God, from the foundation of what Christ did for us on the cross! We can be free from anxiety and fear. In Romans 12:12, we are told to “rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying,” and I will continue to do just that!