Facing the Giant of Grief and LossPrøve

# ‘If I could only know for sure’ ## ‘And then there will be one huge family reunion.’ 1 Thessalonians 4:17 MSG Are you trying to get used to sleeping in an empty bed, or making dinner for one? Has death left you quarantined in grief, wondering ‘Where is God?’ Have you been thinking, ‘If only I could know for sure that my loved one is alright’? Listen: ‘We can tell you with complete confidence...that when the Master comes again to get us, those of us who are still alive will not get a jump on the dead and leave them behind. In actual fact, they’ll be ahead of us. The Master himself will...come down from heaven and the dead in Christ will rise – they’ll go first. Then the rest of us...will be caught up with them...to meet the Master...then there will be one huge family reunion’ (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17 MSG). You say, ‘How can I be sure?’ Because at the cross, a showdown took place; Jesus ‘called Satan’s hand.’ Tired of seeing us intimidated, He walked into the dark tunnel of death, turned it into a lit underpass to Heaven, came out triumphantly and announced, ‘Death, who’s afraid of you now?’ (1 Corinthians 15:55 MSG). At Dan Richardson’s memorial service they distributed these words, ‘Cancer is limited. It cannot cripple love, corrode faith, eat away peace, destroy confidence, kill friendship, shut out memories, silence courage, invade the soul, reduce eternal life, or lessen the power of the resurrection’. Be encouraged today – God’s planning ‘one huge family reunion!’ #### Prayer Point: Lord, I thank You it’s not wrong to be upset or to show emotion, You created that within me. I thank You, Lord, that even in grief You are there with me, walking through it with me. Thank You, Lord, that I can express to You how I feel in prayer, and You never judge me for that. Amen.