Sharing My Life (4/3/07): Being a Hope-Bringer

Another question my friends often ask me is how I deal with all the death I see in my job. After all, most weeks I am called to minister to a number of families who are either in the process of losing or have lost a family member. To be honest, it was hard at first. Then God reminded me that death is not the final chapter. Those people who are dying are now returning to the God Who loving brought them into this world in the first place and has been compassionately pursing them ever since (Ephesians 1-2). Now it is true that some have never received God’s pursuant compassionate love and I do believe that God, in His mercy will grant them their life long pursuit and finally leave them alone (Hebrews 10:26-30). Yet to those who believe, God has promised to receive them in to the place He has been preparing for them since before they were even born (John 14:2-3). That later truth is the one I share with those who are grieving. I remind them that though their loved ones are not here any more in bodily form, they live on in the memories of their loved ones and in their hearts as they continue to love them with their lives. Even more I encourage the families of those I know are with God, that they will see their loved ones again when it is their time to go and be with Him. That is the hope I bring them and because of that hope, I often leave their presence fulfilled, knowing God’s love is present and encouraging them in their grief.