The One Who Comes

We all have loss in our life.   Loss is about losing what is precious to us which makes it painful.  The first remembered loss may be something like a broken toy, or the death of a  pet, or the divorce of a  parent.  All are painful.  They continue to come in bundles as the years begin to add up as we turn lose of jobs, homes, parents, spouses, and even children.   No one is immune.  Loss and grief are one of those common denominators in the equation of lfe.  

The Word of God tells us about loss and grief as it tells the story of Abraham at the burial cave of Sarah where he mourned and wept.  (Genesis 23:2).  It is the story told from Mt. Pisgah as the Israelites mourned and wept thirty days for Moses. (Deuteronomy 34:8)  And, it is a story wrapped in the tears of a father crying for his Son as did David for Absalom. (II Samuel 18:33)   Even in the story that ends in resurrection do we see the widow of Nain grieving for her son, Jesus weeping at the tomb of Lazarus, and women filled with grief going to the tomb of Jesus that Sunday morning.  Loss brought these people of the holy story to dark and hard places, but in those places they were always encountered by the One who is eternally present with all of us.  

He is with us in the moments of living, in the moments of loss, in the moments of turning loose, and in the moments of trying to find life beyond the grief of our personal loss.  It may take time to see Him.  It  may seem that He should have shown up sooner as was the case with Mary and Martha at the death of their brother, but He does show.  He does come.  When the time is ready for His coming, the Words of comfort He has to speak, and the push into the future He still holds for us, we can count on Him to be present.  Jesus promised to never leave us, to never forsake us, and not even loss and grief has the power to overcome that promise.