The Widow's & Widower's WalkSample

EXPECT SUNRAYS BETWEEN THE RAINDROPS!

If you and I are truly walking in the light of God, we should walk through our dark times with expectancy.  Being expectant does not stop our grief.  It just means that as sure as God causes the rain, He also makes the sunshine!

An expectant mother goes through nine months of often feeling uncomfortable.  Many times, during the first trimester, a woman suffers from morning sickness. Near the end of pregnancy, her feet swell, her body is taxed, and she is tired from carrying extra weight. Even though she knows she will endure intense labor pains, she knows that the only way to receive is to walk on! That is why pregnancy is related to being an "expectant mother"; she knows that something good will come out her months of travail.  So it is with grief.

HOW CAN ANYTHING GOOD COME FROM GRIEF AND LOSS?

I purposely used pregnancy as an example because it results in the new life of a baby!  Grief from losing a life will, in time, bring the realization that death is the very tool God uses to catapult loved ones into “eternal life”!  When grief takes us to the point of letting our loved one truly rest in the presence of God, then we know our labor pains have eased.

One of the blessings on the Sermon on the Mount was given by Jesus Himself:

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.  —Matthew 5:4

The word "mourn" used in this scripture is the translation of a Greek word describing a passionate lament in mourning the death and loss of a loved one. When Jesus said this, He was talking directly to His disciples. He knew that soon He would be mourned by His followers.  If you love and follow Jesus, you are also His disciple and friend!  One of the last things Jesus did before going to the cross was to leave a promise to send us a Comforter (Holy Spirit). The Holy Spirit walks with us every day!  He even told his disciples that He had to go away for the Comforter to come (John 16)!

As I write this plan, I have been a widow for three years and eleven months.  Although I will always miss my husband here on earth, I can tell you that there are many sunrays between the raindrops!

It is true that the more we hunger and thirst after God, the more we will be content.  Jesus spoke it well when he said,

Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.  —Luke 6:21

CAN YOU RELATE?

As sure as we know it will rain again, we know that grief will rear its ugly head from time to time to remind us of our loss, yet how reassuring it is that the closer we walk with the Lord, the more we will expect and experience the sunrays of life!   Join me tomorrow and learn how to "walk on, walk on…with hope in your heart!"