Death Comes to One We Loved

The Lord be with you today. I don't have all the answers for today, but I know where we need to go with our supplications. The Lord has called one of His own to come home. Over the past few years we have prayed for Iline Sealey, and after a long and difficult battle with cancer she has gone to be with our Lord. Her husband (and my birth father), Denzil, tended to her with loving care for many years. In Christ we see this as a sacred duty, just as we see our prayers from far away in the same way. At the same time, a child of only 4 years of age has been diagnosed with cancer at a hospital in Omaha. His name is Lucas, and we should pray for his healing. Tough news for the end of a week.

I very much disagree with those cultures and religions that celebrate death. The wrenching separation from a spouse, a friend, or a child hurts us deeply. Jesus told the disciples they should be glad for Him; He would soon be in Heaven with His Father. The disciples wanted Jesus to stay with them. We cannot see the new life right now. The disciples couldn't see past the death Jesus foretold. It is hard for us to feel anything but grief and sadness when death comes to one we love. At the separation of the cross the disciples and many others grieved. Then a great promise came to them. The Son of God rose again from the grave! We believe in Jesus and we hold that promise tightly in times of grief. One day this hard separation will be a great reunion to last forever. But we find it terribly hard to bear right here and right now.

Jesus gave us another great promise: that He would never leave us nor forsake us and that He would be with us always even to the end of the age. The good news is that at the end of this age is that reunion with our Lord and our loved ones. We hurt now, we grieve now, but our Lord WILL come again. You or I may be called home next, more separations may inflict suffering on us before that great day of reunion in Christ. Come to the Lord in prayer. The Comforter is in us now, and at times such as these we know more than ever why Jesus sent His Holy Spirit as the Comforter.

May God bless and comfort you on this day,
Bucky