“I lost my spouse through Covid 19. How can I go on living?” That was the lament of someone so close to my heart. How do you comfort them? What do you say? You numbly go through the rituals of burying the dead and family and friends are there to share your grief. But as days go on, few come by until you sit there all alone. How do you tell yourself to move on? So much paperwork to be done; certificates, bills, wills and everything unimaginable that no one fully prepared you for. How do you tell your heart to beat again? This pain; it won’t go away!
Sadness and longing; days and nights roll into each other. Where do you start? Think about it … The fact that you got up in the morning means you have been given the gift of a brand new day. While your heart tugs at you, your head says keep moving. There’s work to be done and bills to be paid. Time marches on steadily, never missing a beat. You are alive, you are breathing, you need to eat and you need to move on.
If we were immortal, we would not think twice of the pain that death brings. But we are mere mortals and death is the unwelcome visitor we cannot ignore. He barges in even when we least expect him and gets what he wants. He considers himself invincible, but is he really so? 1 Corinthians 15:55 says, “Oh death, where is your sting? Oh grave, where is your victory? Read the context in verses 54-57. Verse 57 says, “But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We have HOPE in the midst of the pain and loss caused by death. No other living being beside the Lord Jesus Christ was put to death AND rose again to live forever. He is the first of the resurrected dead. See Hebrews 9:27-28; Romans 6:8-9; 1Corinthians 15:54. Only Jesus Christ offers us salvation and the gift of eternal life. Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Finally, death is not the finality for those who receive the gift of life offered through Jesus. In dying, we are actually transitioning. Revelation 21:4 says, “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” We can HOPE for better. Listen to this song of hope – Tell your heart to beat again. ◊
Linda Pearl
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