Today we're veering a little off the beaten path to unplanned territory. Today we were going to talk about some of the great Bible heroes that wrestled with this fear thing, but after some events that have transpired over the last 2 days, that wasn't what I felt I should blog about. So, here we go.
Grief and fear. Over the last two days, I feel like I keep hearing about people dying. I mean, I know that bad things happen in this world. I know that death is a natural part of life. But, it seems like everywhere I turn, I'm hearing of someone person- someone that I don't necessarily know, but that I feel some sort of connection to- that has died. Yesterday, I heard about a college freshman from my hometown that was shot and killed by a police officer on his college campus. It's described as being out of his nature- and people are looking for answers. Some way to explain the pain. Not getting into politics or debate, but no matter how you feel on the issue, somebody's son died. Somebody's little brother died. Somebody's best friend died. In the midst of all of this confusion, how do you move on? This afternoon after church, I heard about a precious blogger's husband passing away in a car accident. How do you explain a baby losing a daddy before they even really know them? There's so many questions, which results in a lot of metaphorical wrestling with God. Why did this happen? How did this happen? What is going to happen next?
There's some amount of fear and trepidation going into tomorrow. Anyone else just want to lock up everyone you love and not let them out of your sight? Anyone else want to make sure they always say "I love you" before you say goodbye? The truth is, we aren't promised tomorrow. We aren't promised that the future (on this Earth) will be bright and happy. The truth is, really bad things happen sometimes. Sometimes, there isn't a "good" answer. Sometimes people die young. Sometimes people die and leave a family and baby behind.
We can live fear{less} in these hard times by remembering God. We can remember that although there may be pain, there may be grief, there may be "unexplainable events", we have hope. We have hope.
I normally wouldn't call the Hunger Games gospel, but I think that it might have hit the nail on it's head with this one. Hope can combat fear. Hope can free us from the chains that hold us in bondage. When we realize that we DO have hope for a brighter tomorrow (in heaven), we can let go of the fear. When we embrace the fact that "because HE lives, I can face tomorrow", we can live life to the fullest. We can know that even in the midst of grief and suffering, there is hope. We can know that we serve a God that conquered death and the grave. We can know that there is a better tomorrow in store that involves you and me worshiping God...forever. For eternity.
We can know that there will come a day that we won't have to cry anymore.
We can know that there will come a day when we won't have to worry about "what might happen".
We can know that there will come a day when we won't have to grieve the loss of loved ones.
We can know that there will come a day when we won't have to try to explain the "unexplainable".
We can have hope, we can place our hope, in our God, the creator of the universe. The creator of everything living. The one who "gives and takes away". We can hope in Him. We can trust in him.
When we live a life of hope, we can live fear{less} with Him.
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