Father, help us.

The world seems to be a very sad place lately with news of those around me losing a child, losing a wife, losing a mother, news of kids who won’t hear their sweet mother’s soft voice again, mothers and fathers who won’t be able to cradle their child, husbands whose vision of growing old with their spouse has been snatched away. It’s sad. It’s sudden. It’s severe.

Amidst my transcribing today, I began typing the words that flowed through my headphones—words of great loss, words of great suffering and trial, but also words of hope. The young speaker spoke of the death of his two brothers, mother and father. Over the period of six years, all of his immediate family was gone. As overwhelming and heartbreaking as this was for him to experience, God used it to deepen this man’s relationship with Christ. He has been able to use his somber experiences to share with others and tell them of the Hope, the Rock, the Cornerstone on which they can stand. This is an example that illustrates Romans 8:28-29 so very well. “And we know that all things work together for good to those that love Him and are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren.” ALL THINGS. Why? So that we can be conformed to the image of His son. So that we can learn and grow more in our relationship with Christ. Who is ‘we’? ‘We’ are believers. ‘We’ are those that believe God sent His only son to die on a cross for us, carrying the weight of our sin, and rose again three days later conquering death and declaring victory over sin.

Believers, I type all this not to say that the journey through pain will be made easy or that these words are somehow supposed to fill the seemingly ever present whole in one’s heart. I type all this to say that there is hope. I type all this to say that there is purpose. There is PURPOSE. There is a comforter, THE Comforter that will wrap you in His arms. There is a firm foundation, unwavering, firm through the fiercest drought and through the fiercest storm. Stand in the love of Christ, not standing by your own strength, but standing by the strength of Christ, who loves you and gave Himself for you.

I have not experienced any devastating loss in my life as of yet. My fear is that it will come soon and suddenly as it did with those around me. My prayer is that I will reflect Christ, that I will cling to my Savior, that I will stand not because of my own strength but because of His strength. I can’t get through this song without tears and I believe it says it best when it opens with the following: In Christ along my hope is found. He is my light, my strength, my song. This cornerstone, this solid ground, firm through the fiercest drought and storm. What heights of love, what depths of peace. When fears are stilled, when strivings cease. My Comforter, my All in All, Here in the love of Christ I stand.