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Last week, one of our new InFaith church plants experienced one of the hardest losses a community can face. A young man--only 27 years old--suffered a fatal cardiac arrest following an undiagnosed heart condition.
Whenever a parent loses a child, a church loses a young man prematurely, a fellowship loses one of its most positive, joyful, and kind believers—it is a profound and profoundly unsettling loss. Amid this disorienting event, I was greatly encouraged by a devotional by Pastor Jon Bloom about the Hymn “Be Still My Soul.” Bloom writes, “all the elements of this hymn work together to support the central message…The central message of this hymn is the resurrection hope that Jesus gives us in the face of the devastating loss of a loved one. This hymn is a profound poetic reminder of the one shelter for our sorrowful and storm-tossed souls—the faithfulness of God.”
The hymn echoes the promise of Psalm 118:6 “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.”
Why such fearlessness? Romans 8:31-32 “If God is for us, who can be against us?” If God is on our side, how can we know anything but courage? With the omnipotent and omniscient creator and sustainer of the universe standing beside us, there is no opponent too strong, no danger too deadly, and no circumstance too serious for his sovereign power to overcome.
Romans 8 continues, “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” God promises to provide for us in every circumstance. While our circumstances flow between light and darkness, God promises that, in the end, his purposes will always prevail, his glory will always be revealed, and the good of his people will always be eternally secure.
The Lord knows that we will experience times of darkness and anguish and reminds us in Romans 8:37-39 “In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The Bible offers us reasons for courage. Your faithful Lord is on your side, and he will lead you through the valley of the shadow of death to the eternal light of Jesus Christ.
Psalm 23: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff they comfort me.”