Come Alongside

 

The call came to find resources for a young wife and mother who is left suddenly without her husband, whose children are left confused and wondering where Daddy went so suddenly.

I look out the window on this beautifully ordered fall day and wonder too. 

While in our best attempts to come alongside, support those who are experiencing devastating loss, we can never take the pain away. We can never fully feel the depth of their sorrow. We can never make their lives feel normal again. We feel so helpless. We have no words. We are awkward and confused ourselves.  We are like the children, left wondering why someone so important in their lives is now not coming home to dinner, not kicking the ball in the park, not tucking them in bed and singing their favorite song.

While we have no human ability to heal the broken hearts around us, the Bible says God will heal. Psalm 34:18 reminds us “The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”

We will never truly be set free from the grief we carry with us – ours or someone else’s, but we can find comfort in the simple coming alongside another in their pain. The gentle quiet of spirit touching spirit, hearts anchored in an eternal longing that yearns for the world to be made right moves us toward healing and hope. As a devotional read this morning. “These longings and desires—to be whole, to be a part of something beautiful—are a good thing. They are not to be dismissed. They are given to us by God. They are inside of us because we are made for eternity, for Heaven, for communion with the Holy Trinity and with his saints. This is where our story is headed, our true home where our grief is healed, and we are made whole again.”

As believers, we have a home being prepared for us. Our story is not finished.  Death does not have the final say. We are created for an eternal home in Heaven. And because we have this kind of hope, we discover we do have something to offer - we can comfort others by offering all the physical things that represent peace, love, kindness, and goodness. It’s different for each one because we all have different gifts, but when given in love, offer up a pleasing aroma to the Lord.