Joyful grief

So I just got back from the funeral of a friend from my hometown.

Last Saturday, he was riding his bicycle with his wife when he accidentally veered into traffic and was hit and killed by a car.  

The driver of that car just happened to be a dear friend of his and mine--a woman who spent 34 years as a missionary to Peru.  She is woman who loves God and has served Him all her life, who has spent her life giving up dreams of marriage and a family,  hopes of wealth, expectations of security and safety.  She retired in obscurity, still continuing to minister in prayer and good deeds in our small town.

And this is how God repays her, some might ask?

The man who was killed spent his youth smuggling Bibles into the (then) Soviet Union, running Bible camps for youth in Finland, serving as a deacon in our church, raising two sons, being a faithful and godly husband, sharing the gospel with anyone and everyone who would listen, mentoring young people.  He was strong and healthy, serving God in the community where I grew up.

And God allowed him to be hit by a car.  By his friend.  In front of his wife.

Yes. This is how God has chosen to honor His faithful missionary. This is how he brought His servant home.  And I don't know why.  And I probably never will.

But what I do know is that my friends--the one who died and the ones left behind-- are part of a bigger story.  And that because of their faith in the Writer of all stories, Max's was the most beautiful funeral I have ever attended.  

There was certainly sadness, and I know his loss will be felt for a long time, but there was also rejoicing of a kind that will never be understood by a world who hates God or views Him with suspicion or--worse-- paints Him as small and irrelevant.

The God who IS, who has revealed Himself in His word, is big enough to take every sin-scarred event and every tragedy and transform it into a work of redemption and glory--something that will bring growth to His children and praise to Himself.  

He lifts our eyes off the painful, scratching, searing drudgery of our existence with magnificent transformations. Revelations of Himself.   Miracles born of pain.  Supernatural visions of a reality that flows over and under and through what we can see with our earthly eyes.

                                                  JUDE

¹⁷ "But you, beloved, ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁸ that they were saying to you, “ In the last time there will be mockers, following after their own ungodly lusts.” ¹⁹ These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit. ²⁰ But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. ²² And have mercy on some, who are doubting; ²³ save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.²⁴  Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, ²⁵ to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen."

How else could I describe a church packed to overflowing with people who loved Max, who will never see him again on earth, singing praise to God for his life and for the expectation of seeing him alive in heaven?  

This was not the crippling grief of the hopeless.  These were dear friends, nodding and saying "Amen!  Let it be!" as the pastor preached on the joy set before us, exhorting us from favorite passages in Max's well-worn Bible.


How else could I explain a widow who is able to sing hymns in a strong, unwavering voice as her husband's body is lowered into the ground?  Is it not proof of the promise that “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness"?

"Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. ¹⁰ That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong" ? (2 Corinthians 12:9-10) 

How can it be that a widow's first concern would be for the woman whose car took her husband's life?  Is it not a working out of  John 13:35?  "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this, all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

The beauty of the promises of God comes out in the hardships of life more than at any other time.   "I will never leave you or forsake you" means more in the dark than it does in the light of day. (Hebrews 13:15)

 "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid"  is proven when the bottom falls out of your life and you find yourself sustained in impossible ways. (John 14:27)

The ultimate answer to how God could allow these things in the lives of His children is answered by Romans 8:28.  "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."  

He didn't say "easy".

Or "fun".

Or even "pleasant".

But "good".

And who better to know what that looks like than the One who made us and all things.

Who better to trust with the outcome than the One who can see the ending.

Who better to live for than the One who loves us enough to die for us.

                    1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

¹³ "Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. ¹⁴ For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. ¹⁵ According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. ¹⁶ For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. ¹⁷ After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. ¹⁸ Therefore encourage one another with these words. "

I WILL see you again, my friend!  Hallelujah and Amen!