Text: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
“Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” —John 16:22
“Grief is messy, Annie.”
That’s one of my favorite lines from the film We Are Marshall. It’s the story about the 1970 tragic plane crash that took 75 lives—most of the Marshall University football team, the coaching staff, and many community leaders of Huntington, West Virginia. There were 64 children who lost one or both parents on that fateful flight. The path forward was long, painful… and often messy.
All of us will grieve at one time or another. And the longer we live in this broken and fallen world, the more sorrowful moments we will encounter. But for the believer, there is something that transcends the tears, the hurt, and the loss. There is the kind of hope that isn’t just wishful thinking, but the kind of hope that is sustained by a REAL empty grave—HOPE that is built on the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the promise of our own future resurrection when we pass from this side of glory to the next.
That’s why Paul could look death boldly in the face and declare, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” Because Jesus had defeated death once and for all (1 Corinthians 15:35-58).
Writing to a church family who had seen loved ones taken in death, Paul acknowledged the reality of sorrow. But he challenged these believers not to “grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Loss and death are part of life, but believers can face them with distinct confidence, knowing that Christians never say goodbye for the last time. We can encourage and comfort one another (v18) with the hope of the resurrection and a future reunion.
Our grief, no matter how messy it might get, can become something beautiful as we cling to Jesus and allow Him to meet us in our most painful moments. God wants to meet us in our grief, even giving us a deeper intimacy with Him than we’ve ever known. As Elizabeth Elliot attested from her losses, “The deepest things that I have learned in my own life have come from the deepest suffering. And out of the deepest waters and the hottest fires have come the deepest things that I know about God.”
We can suffer well when we believe that God will never waste our pain. He will use it to draw us closer to his heart and birth redemptive stirrings in others as they see us clinging to the promises of Jesus and treasuring His companionship in times of sorrow. We do well to remember that our suffering is never just for us; God intends to use it for His glory, the encouragement—even liberation—of others, and a consequent new channel for the advancement of the Gospel. Think about that as you seek to abide in Him this week.
PRAYER
Lord, blessed be your name, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction. May our hope in you remain unshaken as we lean into the promises of a resurrected life, the redemption of our pain, and the future renewal of all things. We rejoice in this hope, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
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Text: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
“Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.” —John 16:22
That’s one of my favorite lines from the film We Are Marshall. It’s the story about the 1970 tragic plane crash that took 75 lives—most of the Marshall University football team, the coaching staff, and many community leaders of Huntington, West Virginia. There were 64 children who lost one or both parents on that fateful flight. The path forward was long, painful… and often messy.
All of us will grieve at one time or another. And the longer we live in this broken and fallen world, the more sorrowful moments we will encounter. But for the believer, there is something that transcends the tears, the hurt, and the loss. There is the kind of hope that isn’t just wishful thinking, but the kind of hope that is sustained by a REAL empty grave—HOPE that is built on the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the promise of our own future resurrection when we pass from this side of glory to the next.
That’s why Paul could look death boldly in the face and declare, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” Because Jesus had defeated death once and for all (1 Corinthians 15:35-58).
Writing to a church family who had seen loved ones taken in death, Paul acknowledged the reality of sorrow. But he challenged these believers not to “grieve as others do who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Loss and death are part of life, but believers can face them with distinct confidence, knowing that Christians never say goodbye for the last time. We can encourage and comfort one another (v18) with the hope of the resurrection and a future reunion.
Our grief, no matter how messy it might get, can become something beautiful as we cling to Jesus and allow Him to meet us in our most painful moments. God wants to meet us in our grief, even giving us a deeper intimacy with Him than we’ve ever known. As Elizabeth Elliot attested from her losses, “The deepest things that I have learned in my own life have come from the deepest suffering. And out of the deepest waters and the hottest fires have come the deepest things that I know about God.”
We can suffer well when we believe that God will never waste our pain. He will use it to draw us closer to his heart and birth redemptive stirrings in others as they see us clinging to the promises of Jesus and treasuring His companionship in times of sorrow. We do well to remember that our suffering is never just for us; God intends to use it for His glory, the encouragement—even liberation—of others, and a consequent new channel for the advancement of the Gospel. Think about that as you seek to abide in Him this week.
PRAYER
Lord, blessed be your name, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction. May our hope in you remain unshaken as we lean into the promises of a resurrected life, the redemption of our pain, and the future renewal of all things. We rejoice in this hope, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Subscribe to “Abiding In Him” and get the latest devotional in your Inbox once a week.
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