Mourning and Rejoicing
Last month, we lost my mother-in-law. It was under strange circumstances and was very unexpected. We all love her very much and are now feeling her absence. But we praise God that she knew her Savior, and that in the midst of our sadness and loss, we mourn, but not like those who have no hope.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
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. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore, encourage one another with these words.
Death is a difficult thing. It is the complete and utter loss of control. The person you love is gone, completely. And there is not a single thing you can do to affect that. It’s so final. But in Jesus, it’s never the end of the story. We receive new life and get to step into what God truly desired for us from the beginning.
I lost my own dad at a very young age and dealt with all the struggles and emotions that came along with that as best as a child could. But as I got older, God gently walked me through all the things my spirit was fighting with and fighting for that I just couldn’t get. Control. And He replaced it with peace and rejoicing.
My heart truly breaks for those who don’t have Christ. There is no hope. If we have no hope in death, what hope is there? What is this all for? Hope in anything would be useless as it would simply come to an end along with us and our bodies. I have not experienced a death personally of anyone who wasn’t a true believer that Jesus is the Son of God and died for their sins, finishing that work on the cross and giving them eternal life in heaven.
I can’t imagine the funeral, the conversations. I have been in circumstances where friends have lost loved ones and either the loved one or the friend were not believers. It is so hard to give comfort in those situations. All I can do is comfort; I can’t provide hope, and those are some of the most painful moments of my life.
At Mom’s service, we shared stories, tears, and rejoicing. We know she is far from the inner and outer pain of this physical life on Earth. We know she is in the presence of perfect peace, joy, and love. And we know she has been reunited not only with all her brothers and sisters in Christ but also with her Creator himself.
We were sad, stressed, and overwhelmed, but we were never hopeless. We mourn, but our mourning is contrasted and comforted greatly by the joy we experience for Mom. And we are encouraged and reminded that we can look forward with eagerness to receive the same reward she is experiencing now: a future and hope in eternal life with God.
I'm thankful for Mom’s memory and for the way she loved Jesus. I’m thankful she shared that love with her children and helped raise the man I married to have faith. I’m thankful for how she loved others and for her tender heart toward all things with fur. She was a special and intelligent woman, and I look forward to reuniting with her in heaven.