Friday, September 18, 2009
Dear Family, Please allow me to express my condolences on behalf of your dear loved. When the enemy death strikes, your grief can be great, even though you may hope in the resurrection. Abraham had faith that his wife would live again, yet we read that "Abraham came to bewail Sarah and to weep over her." (Genesis 23:2) And what about Jesus? When Lazarus died, he "groaned in the spirit and became troubled," and shortly afterward he "gave way to tears." (John 11:33,35) So when someone you love dies, it does not show weakness to cry. Yet, because we have confidence in the resurrection, our sorrow will not be unrelenting. As the Bible says, you will "not sorrow just as the rest also do who have no hope." (I Thessalonians 4:13). Rather, you will draw close to God in prayer, and the Bible promises that "he himself will sustain you." (Psalms 55:22)
