When I was a kid, I used to love reading the comic strip Peanuts. Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy & Linus Van Pelt, and the rest of the gang were funny and entertaining. Later in life I realized that Charles Schulz, the creator of Peanuts, was not just trying to entertain us, but these comic strips were filled with theology, philosophy, and wisdom - a wisdom born from Schulz's own Lutheran upbringing and regular worship. He was a comic rooted in God's Word.
One of the catch phrases of the main character of Peanuts, Charlie Brown, is, "Good grief!" It's a cry of exasperation and frustration. As Charlie faces the latest disappointment, catastrophe, or hardship he is often found uttering, "Good grief!"
Which leads me to a question: What is good about grief? It hurts. It's heartbreaking. The experience of grief leaves one feeling helpless, hopeless, hurting and hungering for comfort.
From a worldly point of view, there is nothing good about grief. Grief is seen as a process that must be worked through, a bad patch of road that must be traveled to get to a better place on the other side. But from a biblical point of view, there can be good in grief. In our powerlessness we find that God is our refuge and strength. We experience His comfort, love, and faithfulness in whole new ways. Read the words of Psalm 6.
O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. 2 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled. 3 My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O LORD--how long? 4 Turn, O LORD, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love. 5 For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise? 6 I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. 7 My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes. 8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping. 9 The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer. 10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment. (Psa 6:1-10 ESV)
As King David, the author of this Psalm, grieves he finds comfort in one source - the LORD has heard, therefore the LORD will respond.
When will he respond? Do you feel you've waited a long time for him to respond? The answer is in two parts.
First - God responds when the time is right. When is the time right? When He deems it right. We wait on the LORD, knowing that He is good and He loves us. The LORD is still at work in our world. He has not forgotten us. He is faithful. So, like David, in our grief we wait knowing that the LORD has head. He will respond to comfort us.
Second - God has responded to our grief through Jesus. Isaiah 55 speaks of the Messiah to come as one who is despised and rejected; acquainted with grief. Jesus, that very Messiah, knows our grief, and he stands in the midst of our grief with us. In fact, he has borne our grief and carried our sorrow. Grief is a place where we can understand Jesus, because Jesus meets us in our grief to walk through it with us.
Look at that last bit again. Jesus walks through our grief with us. He doesn't just make it go away. It isn't going to just disappear. But Jesus will be there every step of the way loving us, strengthening us, forgiving us, giving us peace, and pointing ahead reminding us us that this world is not our home. There is a home prepared for us where there will be no more crying or sickness or pain or sorrow or death. But we're not there yet.
Alas! that we are still here where we feel grief! Oh! for the day that Jesus will come and all things will be made right in the brightness of His glory!
Thanks be to God that we can face these days with hope. Hope in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Hope in the love of God which is so deep that He would give His only begotten Son. Hope that one day we will make it home. Hope in the reconciliation Jesus won on the cross.
As I read the news, as I think about a young friend who chose to end his own life, a man who has damaged his family, a woman who is considering divorce, a child who cannot be with his parents, and all pain in the world I think, "Good grief! When will this all end?!?" But in all of those situation, Jesus is there leading the way through, showing His love, redeeming the pain, and providing hope.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! Come quickly! Amen.
One of the catch phrases of the main character of Peanuts, Charlie Brown, is, "Good grief!" It's a cry of exasperation and frustration. As Charlie faces the latest disappointment, catastrophe, or hardship he is often found uttering, "Good grief!"
Which leads me to a question: What is good about grief? It hurts. It's heartbreaking. The experience of grief leaves one feeling helpless, hopeless, hurting and hungering for comfort.
From a worldly point of view, there is nothing good about grief. Grief is seen as a process that must be worked through, a bad patch of road that must be traveled to get to a better place on the other side. But from a biblical point of view, there can be good in grief. In our powerlessness we find that God is our refuge and strength. We experience His comfort, love, and faithfulness in whole new ways. Read the words of Psalm 6.
O LORD, rebuke me not in your anger, nor discipline me in your wrath. 2 Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled. 3 My soul also is greatly troubled. But you, O LORD--how long? 4 Turn, O LORD, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love. 5 For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise? 6 I am weary with my moaning; every night I flood my bed with tears; I drench my couch with my weeping. 7 My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows weak because of all my foes. 8 Depart from me, all you workers of evil, for the LORD has heard the sound of my weeping. 9 The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer. 10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and greatly troubled; they shall turn back and be put to shame in a moment. (Psa 6:1-10 ESV)
As King David, the author of this Psalm, grieves he finds comfort in one source - the LORD has heard, therefore the LORD will respond.
When will he respond? Do you feel you've waited a long time for him to respond? The answer is in two parts.
First - God responds when the time is right. When is the time right? When He deems it right. We wait on the LORD, knowing that He is good and He loves us. The LORD is still at work in our world. He has not forgotten us. He is faithful. So, like David, in our grief we wait knowing that the LORD has head. He will respond to comfort us.
Second - God has responded to our grief through Jesus. Isaiah 55 speaks of the Messiah to come as one who is despised and rejected; acquainted with grief. Jesus, that very Messiah, knows our grief, and he stands in the midst of our grief with us. In fact, he has borne our grief and carried our sorrow. Grief is a place where we can understand Jesus, because Jesus meets us in our grief to walk through it with us.
Look at that last bit again. Jesus walks through our grief with us. He doesn't just make it go away. It isn't going to just disappear. But Jesus will be there every step of the way loving us, strengthening us, forgiving us, giving us peace, and pointing ahead reminding us us that this world is not our home. There is a home prepared for us where there will be no more crying or sickness or pain or sorrow or death. But we're not there yet.
Alas! that we are still here where we feel grief! Oh! for the day that Jesus will come and all things will be made right in the brightness of His glory!
Thanks be to God that we can face these days with hope. Hope in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Hope in the love of God which is so deep that He would give His only begotten Son. Hope that one day we will make it home. Hope in the reconciliation Jesus won on the cross.
As I read the news, as I think about a young friend who chose to end his own life, a man who has damaged his family, a woman who is considering divorce, a child who cannot be with his parents, and all pain in the world I think, "Good grief! When will this all end?!?" But in all of those situation, Jesus is there leading the way through, showing His love, redeeming the pain, and providing hope.
Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! Come quickly! Amen.
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