A Season of Loss

The last few days have been hard days.  Several people who have been in my life for some time now are in the midst of suffering through loss and the grief which surely weighs heavy upon them.  Any of us who have experienced loss in our own lives can understand how hearts can be broken and hopes and dreams shattered.  No matter how much we might speak the words of faith and no matter how much we choke back the tears of our emotions, the loss of those we love changes our world into a world never before known.  

While we cannot take away the pain of the moment from those we love and while we do not have the  power to shorten the road of grief that must be traveled, what we can do is to stand alongside of them in whatever way we can.  In some cases we can physically be present.  Even though those moments may be moments of not knowing what to say, our presence will be remembered long after any words.  It is also true that distance can make physical presence impossible, but it does not diminish the care in our hearts, nor our ability to make a phone call or to send a handwritten card.  

Another significant way of expressing our care for someone in the midst of loss is through prayer.  Not one prayer, but a season of prayer.  If we have walked the journey of loss and grief in our own life, we know how much prayer becomes a source of strength as well as how it leads us toward hope and the rest of the life God is unfolding.  The Apostle Paul wrote the Christians in the Galatian churches to "bear one another's burdens..." (Galatians 6:2) and another apostle named James wrote to those entrusted to his care, "...pray for one another, so that you may be healed.  The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective."  (James 5:16).  "Father God, in the quietness of our own heart, we pray for those we know whose grief is so very heavy.  Have mercy, Lord Jesus.  Bring comfort, Holy Spirit.  Amen."