Pain, Promise, and the Strange Comfort of God

There was a bright, blue, autumn sky overhead as I stepped onto the grass at the cemetery. As a Pastor, I had been to this place, and others like it, many times before. Friends and family gather at such a time to cry, mourn, remember, say goodbye, or celebrate a life lived. This day was different; this was a day in which the air was thick with unspeakable grief and shock. The family came together and stood silent like statues amongst the pillars of marble jutting out of the green turf. No one moved. No one spoke. The tiny casket amidst the large grey stones spoke words loud enough – words too heavy to articulate. Words that spoke of shattered dreams and future plundered that hung in the air like a dense, inescapable fog.

Monuments to a Broken World

I stood helpless under a giant oak as an outsider, my eyes scanning rolling fields of chiseled stone as far as the eye could see. These monuments silently told the story of a broken world – a world where death reigned. Never had I felt more hatred for the cause of it all. Never had I so longed for the remedy. It was not meant to be this way. On so many levels, it was not meant to be like this at all.

The scriptures say we are to grieve with those who grieve and mourn with those who mourn. On that day, as I saw the anguish on the faces of my friends, I could not help but bear their sorrow as if it were my own. I had come to give words of comfort, but I found my voice vacant, and my heart so heavy with lament that I was in need of consolation myself.

Strange Comfort

Throughout the scripture, time and time again, we see people going through darker days than I can even imagine. What we also see are the unexpected ways in which God comforts those in extreme sorrow.

So often, when God speaks to bring comfort to His people, He comforts them with the truth about Himself – reminders of what He has done in the past and will do in the future. In the Old Testament we read of Job, who is faced with the trial of losing his possessions and security as well as the unspeakable horror of having to bury all of his children. He then suffers the loss of his health, the respect of his wife, and faces the judgmental scrutiny of his friends. When he begs God for answers for this calamity, God responds out of a whirlwind and gives His Divine autobiography. Instead of specific answers to his questions, Job gets a glimpse of the wonder of God’s creation, power, and majesty. He gives Job theology. This didn’t lessen the pain of his suffering, but it increased the depth of his faith. After this, Job responds with, “I have heard of you with my ears but now I see you with my eyes.”

King David cries out the “Lord is my Shepherd”, declaring to himself the truth of this One who restores and quiets his soul. The Psalmist says, “The Lord IS my refuge and strength, my very present help in trouble.” In great grief and suffering, King David finds solace by singing songs of the character and nature of his God.

Over and again, when people are the most desperate in their grief, when sorrow seems to overwhelm and our understanding falls short, God comforts us with the greatest blessing that He can give us – the truth about HIMSELF.

Deep Biography of God

When in grief or doubt, trial or tribulation we must have a deep, abiding biography of our Lord. We need this reservoir of truth to counter the voice of doubt and clarify our vision through the darkness. When God declares the truth about Himself, He tells us His name. His name declares His work and His character. He is called:

– The Most High God (El Elyon) – Gen 14:18

– God of Power/Strength (Elohim) – Deuteronmony 10:17

– God of the Beginning – Deuteronomy 33:27

– God Of Forgiveness – Nehemiah 9:17

– High God – Micah 6:6

– God Of My Strength – Psalm 43:2

– God Of My Praise – Psalm 109:1

– Holy God: Leviticus – 19:2

– True, Living God, Everlasting King – Jeremiah 10:10

– God Of Gods – Psalm 136:2

– The God Of Truth – Psalm 31:6

– The God Of My Salvation, Strength – Isaiah 12:2

– God Is With Us (Emmanuel) – Isaiah 7:14

– God Of Justice – Isaiah 30:18

– The God Of Eternity – Psalm 90:2

– God Who Is Near – Jeremiah 23:23

– Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Prince of Peace – Isaiah 9:6

Jesus tells his disciples that He is the ultimate expression and revelation of the truth of God. He is Jesus, our kinsmen redeemer, Savior and friend. Jesus is our ransom and our freedom. He is our salvation and our hope. Jesus is God’s answer to the problem of sin – the One who puts an end to death.

He is the promised One who crushed the head of the serpent, and who paid our debts. He is the Risen King! He is the one who conquered death, hell and the grave. He is the first born of all who are raised; He is the forerunner who paved the way for our resurrection.

Empty Graves and Stones Upturned.

One day, Jesus is coming again with a shout, with the sound of a trumpet, and the dead in Christ shall rise. The graves will be emptied and their stones upturned. Those who are His, who are alive and remain, will be caught up with him together in the clouds. On that day we too will say with overcoming joy, “We have heard of you with our ears but now we see you with our eyes.”

I stood by the graveside that day, bonded together with my brothers and sisters in grief. We cried, embraced and whispered the truths about our Savior. Surrounded there by a sea of death, our hearts vexed and souls disquieted, we remembered the “God who is near.” We contemplated the “God who is with us”, who bears our griefs and carries our sorrows. We reflected on the “God of our salvation” and meditated on the God of our strength.” We looked forward to seeing the “God of Eternity” and the future that we will have with Him. Somehow, in ways I still don’t fully comprehend, the truth about this God quieted our anxious thoughts and soothed our aching hearts. Though we did not walk away with all of our questions answered, we held less tightly to them in the light of our future hope.

Jesus is that hope! One day He will wipe away all tears from our eyes. Crying shall be no more, death shall hold no sting, and the grave will have no victory. Darkness will give way to the Lord of Light. There will be no more funerals, no cemeteries and no sad goodbyes. This will all come from Him, the truth of whom we will learn about and know forever, for “so shall we EVER be with the Lord.” He is our God, our hope, and knowing Him is our comfort.