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alabama.jpgTHE STORMS THAT hit Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia have left devastation and ruin all across these states…
The pictures are almost surreal.
It is hard to imagine entire neighborhoods, business districts, and countryside wiped out in just a matter of seconds from the force of the tornadoes that hit.
While we were fortunate that God spared us, we need to keep many other folks in our prayers.
Of all the pictures I saw of the damage, one stood out more than the others… a couple standing in front of some damaged houses. All around them is destruction and their faces betray their dismay at the magnitude of the damage. Yet, they are holding on to each other. Everything they were familiar with, everything they had known, everything that had been normal the day before, is now gone…but they have each other.
It is one thing to lose a house and all its furnishings. It is quite another thing to lose your home. A home can exist even when the house is gone. You see, a home is made up of two or more people who share love, life, and laughter. And that home is made stronger when God is at the center of everything that takes place in the lives of those who are part of it. When God is at the center, our homes are storm proof. That doesn’t mean bad things will never happen. It simply means that when tragedy does strike, you will find the two of them huddled together, holding each other, and giving and receiving support. That’s how homes weather a storm.
Many of the houses in Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia are gone. They may be rebuilt, but the greatest asset for those who have lost so much is their home. Home…where love dwells, where joy and grief is shared, and where the storms of life are not a threat…but a shelter of protection. Gary Knuckles, “Storm Proof,” Briensburg church of Christ Bulletin, 05.01.11: www.briensburgchurchofchrist.org
KneEmail: “Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” Ecclesiastes 4.12
Bible reading for 05.06.11: Luke 23.26-56; 1 Kings 21, 22
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Through

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grieving_woman2.jpgTHE KEY WORD is through…
God promises you will get through the waters of grief, the river of sorrow, the furnace of pain. Somehow you will get through. What you experience today will not last forever.
One encouragement here is God knows who you are. He is your Creator, and he calls you by name (Isaiah 43.1). You are His, and He will take care of His own. In time of sorrow you feel unimportant and unknown. God knows you, and you are important to him.
God also knows where you are. He knows when you’re fighting the current of the river of sorrow, when you’re walking through the firey furnace of suffering. Others may not know what you’re experiencing. One the outside you may have everyone believing you’re fine. But inside you’re about to drown. God knows — and He is there for you.
When Daniel’s three friends were thrown into the furance, the king watched (Daniel 3.22-26). And what he saw amazed him: the men were not harmed, and a fourth person was with them in the furnace.
God knows how you feel: alone, afraid, uncertain about the future, isolated, maybe rejected. God made you with your emotions, and he knows how they can overwhelm and control you. God will never condemn you for the way you feel. Tell him how it feels — He will listen.
God knows what you need. You need someone to share the pain, to walk through this long valley with you. He promises His presence. He also promises His love. God gave you His Son to conquer death and give hope.
Live on promises, not on explanations. Even if God explained by your loved one died, the answer wouldn’t end the heartbreak or quench the questions. Instead of explanations, God gives promises, which keep you moving ahead, giving hope and new strength.
You’ll get through your grief. It won’t end today or next month. But there is an end. Just face today. Tomorrow will take care of itself. Don’t burn today’s energies on tomorrow’s problems that aren’t here yet.
You’re going to make it through. David W. Wiersbe, “Going Through,” Gone But Not Lost, 77-78
KneEmail: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you.” Isaiah 43.2
Bible reading for 03.03.11: Mark 8.22-38; Numbers 28 – 30
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Grief

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cry2.jpg HAVE YOU HAD well-meaning friends tell you that God works all things for good and won’t give you more than you can handle…?
They may suggest you need to rejoice in all things and focus on your victory in Christ. If you have heard these types of comments, you probably didn’t find them very comforting or helpful, even if you do believe deep down that they are true. When death strikes and it seems like your world is crashing down, these platitudes don’t offer much comfort, at least not during the early days of grieving. These messages all seem to say, “Cheer up, everything is going to be okey, so don’t grieve.”
First Thessalonians 4:13 teaches that Christians will grieve, but not as those who have no hope. God expects us to grieve. Grieving means expressing your feelings. Jesus did. When He saw Lazarus dead, he wept. Althought Jesus knew that in just a short time He would raise Lazarus from the dead, He still expressed His deep sadness through tears.
Being created in God’s image, we also have emotions, a quality which separates us from all other creatures. We not only need to accept that we are created as emotional beings, but also we need to express these emotions openly. The Bible never downplays emotions. It embraces feelings that are both positive and negative. You may like the passages that talk about joy in the Lord and celebrate His greatness. But the Bible also embraces the other end of the emotional continuum. LIfe isn’t all joy, peace, and happiness. We only know what joy is when we understand its counterpart of sorrow. Susan J. Zonnebelt-Smeenge and Robert C. De Vries, “Detours Are Frustrating!,” Traveling Through Grief, 72-73
KneEmail: “Jesus wept.” John 11:35
Bible reading for 06.04.10: John 14; 2 Chronicles 21,22
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