Jesus Understands Our Grief
Jesus wept. -- John 11:35 (NIV)
It was a day of grief. The day after always seems to be that way. The first day, the first moments, are filled with shock and prayers and people holding on. Then come the silent moments where you can no longer hider from the awful truth.
Co-workers gathered round, talking, sharing stories, remembering. One said he hadn’t slept at all the night before. He worked next to the man killed in a motorcycle accident while on his way home for lunch. Even in the daylight hours, he kept talking to his friend. Then he’d realize his friend wasn’t there and a fresh wave of grief would descend.
Another, with tears in his eyes, couldn’t believe it. He thought maybe the man had taken a nap and overslept. He’d done that before and this man, his supervisor, had covered for him. He had that way about him. A quick smile and eagerness to learn that made everyone like him. His supervisor said he wished the man had overslept. He wished anything other than what had really happened.
Their boss recalled the moment she’d walked into the room where his wife sat with a chaplain. She’d had trouble finding her or getting any information. In the hospital’s misguided attempts to protect the new widow, they’d isolated her from people who cared. She noted that the woman had rushed to her and hugged her tightly and wouldn’t let go. A friendly face in a world that had suddenly gone dark. A compassionate person who understood at least some of her grief.
The morning brought its own challenges. A wedding ring left in a tool box had to be retrieved. Employees had to be comforted. An empty work space had to be avoided. It echoed too much of loss, of laughter that would never return.
The whys are only now beginning to emerge. Why do some people in motorcycle wrecks survive and some die? Why does God spare some people and take others without a moments notice? I have no answers. Was it simply a tragic collision of vehicles piloted for people entrusted with free will? Or was it something greater, a part of God’s plan that we’ll one day see and understand?
Maybe it only comes down to knowing that God is with us on this horrible journey. Maybe what matters most is that He sees, He knows, He understands. We remember that one time Jesus lost a friend and He wept.
And now, brothers and sisters, I want you to know what will happen to the Christians who have died so you will not be full of sorrow 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 comes, God will bring back with Jesus all the Christians who have died. -- 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 (NLT)
It’s what we hold on to during these
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