“Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.” Isaiah 40:1
Dear Father,
Sorrow can come so suddenly and knock our feet right out from under us. It came this morning like an earthquake shaking us out of our warm, cozy beds of satiety. A friend, teacher, mentor, husband, father, grandpa is gone before we can rub the sleep from our eyes. We are startled, bewildered, empty, aching. We are not ready to let go. And I, dear Father, search for something to say, something that will ease the pain. But my throat tightens and my efforts are reduced to suffocated groans. The sorrow pours down like cold January rain and I pray for words to speak on behalf of my friend. I know You will deliver. Somehow, as only You can do, You will put Your words in my mouth and cover me with the shadow of Your hand. I pray that hope, comfort, encouragement will be spilled out in warm remembrances of Your love and promises and of this dear friend who had a giant of a heart. Thank You for crossing my path with his. I am the better for it. But my heart breaks for his bride of many years. Do what only You can – comfort her, comfort their children, comfort all of us. Wrap us in Your peace like a warm fleece blanket. The pain is still real, the hurt is very deep, and grief will be a companion for days, weeks, and months to come. But You O Lord are greater still. You are here and nothing can separate us from Your love – not death, nor sickness, nor troubles; nothing in this whole wide world. You are an extreme God. Your grace has boundaries beyond our need. Your love is unlimited and Your mercy is beyond scope. Jesus – your very name – invokes power and majesty and glory above my humbled soul. I praise You!
In Your arms,
Penny
