Job 1:21 “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
So a friend of mine passed away last week. He was younger than me, and left behind a lovely wife and five beautiful boys. He had been in a coma for nine months, and every week during that time, some really faithful friends organized a prayer and worship session to contend for his supernatural healing.
After the wake and funeral last week, these friends organized the final online session last night, and I was really blown away. His wife shared about God’s goodness in the midst of an incredibly difficult journey, and expressed her thanks to Him and the community for standing by. Dozens of friends and family joined in to pray and worship, and the session ended with a pastor sharing some words of encouragement. [I paraphrase.]
“Many of you have been praying for miraculous healing, and we always face a tough choice in circumstances like these. If we have less faith, then we can protect ourselves from disappointment. If we have more faith and pray for the supernatural, we are definitely more likely to see miracles. But we also open ourselves up to getting demoralized if things don’t work out.”
The pastor prayed for everyone who was grieving, especially the family. But then he said a prayer for those who were feeling a sense of disappointment after contending for so long. I have no idea how the passing of such an amazing person, at such a premature age, leaving such a young family behind can be a good thing. We can’t understand his ways, because they’re greater than our ways.
No doubt there is a place for grieving. No doubt there is incredible loss. Yet I’m so encouraged to see everyone pursuing God with unshakeable faith in the midst of this trial. Someday we’ll get to heaven and see our friend. In that moment, God will show us why all this makes sense, even though we can’t reconcile it right now.
For we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.
Dear God, thank you for the gift of life. Though we don’t understand it we worship you in the midst of loss. For you give and you take away. Blessed be your name. Amen.