In the story of Lazarus’s death, we saw that Jesus Christ was saddened by the grief of those around him. As we saw last time, his father is described as the ‘God of all comfort’ (2 Corinthians 1:3). Both feel our pain and are there to strengthen us in our grief:
‘The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.’ Psalm 34:18.
‘My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.’ Psalm 73:26.
God is aware of every tear that we shed:
‘Put thou my tears into thy bottle: are they not in thy book?’ Psalm 56:8.
He promises to be a ‘father to the fatherless’ and a protector of the widow (Psalm 68:5). Those who mourn are ensured the blessing of comfort (Matthew 5:4). Jesus Christ himself promised that, while it was time for him to return to his Father, he would not leave us comfortless, but that the Father would send a Comforter (the Holy Ghost) (John 14:26). While Jesus as a man could only minister to those he met face to face, the Holy Ghost is available to all of us at all times, especially in our darkest hours.
God promises that eventually, joy will follow grief:
‘Sorrow is turned into joy before him.’ Job 41:22.
‘Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.’ Psalm 30:5.
God offers us ‘beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness’ (Isaiah 61:3). This doesn’t mean that we forget those who have died or must rush ourselves to feel better when we simply don’t, but that with God’s help, we can have hope for a happier future (Jeremiah 29:11). Where someone may have died unjustly, we can rely on God to take care of us and to bring something good from the situation (Romans 8:28). He also promises to exact justice and enact vengeance if needed and if we trust in him (Romans 12:19).
For those who follow God, we can be sure that he will take care of our every need. He meets us with kindness and support both directly and through other people. When we are in need of comfort, we need only ask him for the Comforter: ‘How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?’ (Luke 11:13).
Sometimes we may fear grief itself, that is, of never recovering from it. The more we are able to trust in God’s word, the more we can rest in his comfort so that even when those closest to us approach or succumb to death, we find ourselves ‘troubled on every side, yet not distressed … perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed’ (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). Such peace comes when we steadfastly believe that God will take care of us and supply our every need (Philippians 4:19). We only need to cast our care onto him, knowing that he cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). God will never leave us nor forsake us (Deuteronomy 31:6, 8). As he told us through Isaiah:
‘When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.’ Isaiah 42:3.
Paul tells us that it is through experiencing tribulation and receiving comfort from God that we are able to comfort others who grieve:
‘[God] comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.’ 2 Corinthians 1:4.
Experiencing trials is like learning more languages to communicate with more people. Once we have adequately recovered from our grief with God’s help, we can then choose to provide hope and encouragement to others, often in ways we never could have done if it were not for our own lived experiences. While God provides his people with comfort directly, he often uses people to deliver comfort as well. In this vein, Paul encourages us all to ‘comfort yourselves together, and edify one another’ (1 Thessalonians 5:11).
We know that God protects those who have been grieved, particularly widows and orphans, but he instructs us to do so too:
‘Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.’ James 1:27.
Sometimes this means more than keeping them in our thoughts and prayers:
‘My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.’ 1 John 3:18.
It is by showing such love to others that we prove ourselves to be the disciples of Christ (John 13:35), remembering that ‘inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these brethren, ye have done it unto me’ (Matthew 25:40).
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