DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR TUESDAY, JANUARY 2, 2018
O God, help us to comfort those who hurt, to weep with those who weep, and to rejoice with those who rejoice. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
When Jesus saw [Mary] weeping, and the Jews
who had come along with her also weeping, he
was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
“Where have you laid him?” “Come and
see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept.
(John 11:33-35 (NIV))
The phone call came in the middle of an ordinary morning. The caller was almost incoherent, overcome with grief. “Ricky is dead.”
Ricky was my nephew. It was a freak accident, and now a young man who was loved and who loved so freely was gone. He left behind a wife, stepsons, grandchildren, a mother, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and friends. I struggled to make sense of it; I wanted to find a word of comfort for his mother. I wanted words of consolation for myself and for others who were hurting.
I found the words I needed in the passage about Lazarus in John 11: “Jesus wept” — just two words but they were enough to remind me that God grieves with us. I didn’t need the why of Ricky’s death; I didn’t need answers. What I needed was to weep with those who were weeping. The pastor’s words during the service celebrating Ricky’s life were powerful. He reminded us that, as in the story of Lazarus, Christ brings us hope when we see no hope. Even in a time of grief, the promise of eternal life gives us strength to rejoice.
TODAY'S PRAYER:
The phone call came in the middle of an ordinary morning. The caller was almost incoherent, overcome with grief. “Ricky is dead.”
Ricky was my nephew. It was a freak accident, and now a young man who was loved and who loved so freely was gone. He left behind a wife, stepsons, grandchildren, a mother, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and friends. I struggled to make sense of it; I wanted to find a word of comfort for his mother. I wanted words of consolation for myself and for others who were hurting.
I found the words I needed in the passage about Lazarus in John 11: “Jesus wept” — just two words but they were enough to remind me that God grieves with us. I didn’t need the why of Ricky’s death; I didn’t need answers. What I needed was to weep with those who were weeping. The pastor’s words during the service celebrating Ricky’s life were powerful. He reminded us that, as in the story of Lazarus, Christ brings us hope when we see no hope. Even in a time of grief, the promise of eternal life gives us strength to rejoice.
TODAY'S PRAYER:
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John 11:32 When Miryam came to where Yeshua was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Yeshua saw her crying, and also the Judeans who came with her crying, he was deeply moved and also troubled. 34 He said, “Where have you buried him?” They said, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Yeshua cried; 36 so the Judeans there said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “He opened the blind man’s eyes. Couldn’t he have kept this one from dying?”
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In every moment, God can bring us hope and peace.
Someone grieving a death in the family
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Header Photo Credit: "Harvested Land," Beth Shumate. August 15, 2014. (link)
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