Suffering, sorrowing one, I can empathy with your grief, for I have tasted my own, first-hand. But I know God is gracious and loving; He is kind and all-wise.

I speak to the one who has lost a loved one, especially one who has lost a believing mate. I know of no other grief that compares, unless it be the loss of a loving child.

If your mate was a believer of and thus a lover of the Lord Jesus Christ, then take great comfort that he or she is with the Lord and is happy. Though you lived to make this person happy, you can know that the Lord is faithfully now fulfilling that role.

And though you so greatly now miss that role, and feel at such a great loss (oh I know the turmoil and sorrow and sense of loss), you must know that the compassionate Lord Jesus knows your heart and understands that sense of loss that you feel.  But all is well.

If your loved one is gone due to age or sickness, you would not want him or her back in this sinful world of suffering. Yes, you may say, “But God could have healed.”

Yes, He could if it had been His wise and good will. But think about it: It is not realistic to even expect God and ask Him to heal an aging loved one forever, for if He always answered such a prayer, then believers would never die and leave this earth, to “depart and be with the Lord,” which “is far better,” and then it could never be said,

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints,” if God was obligated to not ever let them die to fly away to be with Him.

No matter the cause of death or when, remember God is in control and is working out His purpose.

Our loving God even uses the Enemy of Death to perform something good for His child, and His children. He uses Death to take them to Himself in glory, to live with Him in perfect joy, peace and happiness forever and ever. Never again are they to have to go through Death again. You can praise the Lord for that. So take comfort. The Lord gives you that comfort.

Further, as a believer yourself, you will soon be with the Lord and with your loved one. All

saints will love and serve the Lord together, and they will love and serve each other in fullness and in perfection. We can look forward to that!

The coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Now is our redemption nearer than when we first believed.

Let us praise and worship our loving and gracious God.  He is all-wise and all-loving toward His children.  Our loss is so great, but the sufferings of this present life cannot be compared to the glory that awaits us who love and fear Him.

Praise and glorify Him as you bow and worship Him.

—Glen Berry

 

Dedicated to the Memory of Maryanne Berry

1937—2016

Whose Death-Bed Theme Was The Sufferings of Jesus, Which Included Concern for Needs of Others and Her Death-Bed Hymn Was

“God moves in a mysterious way,

His wonders to perform;

He plants His footsteps in the sea,

He rides upon the storm.” 

She wanted “love, joy and peace”

and to “go Home.”

 

Under God, she was the music of my life,

a pearl of great price,

fine gold refined in the furnace of affliction.

“Her price is far above rubies.”

(Proverbs 31:10)