"Grief"

 No one heard his final scream,

When that cutbank caved downstream,

His horse went down, the fall was mean,

A tragedy for all it seems,

Who knew the cowboy, knew the horse,

Been along that trail, of course,

But unseen troubles always force,

To find our strength from its true source.

Sad when we have to say good-bye,

The loss we feel, our peace will fly,

And cannot help but wonder why,

And listen for a sane reply.

But often it will never come,

When tragedy has claimed someone,

And when it’s all been said and done,

With our grief to Him we run.

Put it all in Jesus’ hands,

Trust in Him and all his plans,

Wisdom past a mortal man’s,

His Spirit with us always stands.

And Jesus promised us His peace,

And from our burdens find release,

And when we trust and seek to please,

We find our sorrow will decrease.

We grieve but still we have strong hope,

And by God’s grace He helps us cope,

And He will never leave us, nope,

So don’t go down that slippery slope.

Jesus Christ will come again,

The dead in Christ will be raised then,

Forevermore we’ll be with Him,

He’ll have the last say in the end.

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13, NLT)

Everyone grieves. But some grieve without hope. Why? Because they lack the consolation that comes from their hope in God. God-given hope tells us that, no matter how painful the loss, God is ultimately in control and we will see our loves ones in Christ again. In fact, the future scenario is so exciting that it eases the heartbreak of losing them. We are comforted by the reality that they are there with the Lord, and when He returns, they will come back with Him. Their bodies will rise from their graves and we will all be with the Lord forever. Paul says, “Encourage one another with these words.” We are encouraged indeed!

Lord, relieve our grief and give us hope, in Jesus’ name.

Art by Teal Blake, tealblake.com. Used by permission. Thanks, Teal, and God bless you.