As I sit here on the eve of what would have been my sister’s 37 birthday (the first one since her passing), I am reflecting on the week.  A week of heartache.  A week of shocking news.  Amidst a fresh wave of mourning my sister, and this wave has been longer and bigger than others, a life was taken.  A young man that could not cope with this world anymore, who thought he was doing others a favour.  A young man who had a deep friendship with my youngest siblings.  While coping with this tragedy, Little Sis, received the news that her best friend was killed overseas in a helicopter crash.  So many questions, so much hurt, so many tears.  All I could do is pray and share in their grief.  However, during sorrow, God pours His comfort out.

“It is in the questioning and the waiting that our relationship with Him is being built.  It’s during those dark times of the soul where we call out for answers from God that our expectations for both God and our lives are revealed to us.  And that is the beginning of growing our trust in God’s plans, purposes, and timing.”  (1)

As difficult and heart wrenching as this week has been, this life has been, I have realized there is only one thing that is for certain – Christ.  He is my hope – my living hope.  All we have, material goods, family, friends, each breath, is only on loan to us.  Given to us for a time by grace (we do not deserve or require any of it).  Grace can turn bad into good.  All fades…Christ remains.

Suffering is inevitable during our lives, however, we can be transformed to the good by it with God’s help.  It is a comfort to know that Christ suffered through the same things we do.  He knows our pain.  It was also through His pain that allowed LIFE to have the final say.  Death was destroyed through the shedding of Christ’s blood on the cross and His resurrection from the grave.  See?  What seemed like a bad thing, was turned to good through God’s sovereign grace.  The question that begs to be asked is, “Will I surrender my will/expectations to God and allow Him to work through my sorrow or will I let my sorrow/false expectations control me?”  I was recently reminded of the following illustration:

“Pearls are the product of pain.  For some unknown reason!  The shell of the oyster gets pierced and an alien substance – a grain of sand – slips inside.  On the entry of that foreign irritant, all the resources within the tiny, sensitive oyster rush to the spot and begin to release healing fluids that otherwise would have remained dormant.  By and by the irritant is covered and the wound is healed – by a pearl.  No other gem has so fascinating a history.  It is the symbol of stress – a healed wound…a precious, tiny jewel conceived through irritation, born of adversity, nursed by adjustments.  Had there been no wounding, no irritating interruption, there could have been no pearl.” (2)

References:

1. “Is God Listening?” by Dave Deuel, Joni & Friends
2. “Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life” by Charles Swindoll