God's Glory Church

“So that you do not grieve like others who have no hope.” — 1 Thessalonians 4:13

Louise was a cheerful, playful girl. Everyone who looked at her smiled. But at the age of five, she fell ill with a rare disease and died. Her sudden departure was a terrible blow to Peter and Day-Day, her parents, and to all of us who worked with them. We cried with them.

And yet Peter and Day-Day showed remarkable fortitude. When I asked how they were dealing with their grief, Day-Day said that they were comforted by the thought of where Louise was now in the loving hands of the Lord Jesus. “We rejoice for our girl, whose time has come to go to heaven,” she said. “God gives us the grace and strength to overcome grief and continue to do what He has entrusted to us.”

Day-Day found comfort in the character of God as revealed in Jesus Christ. Biblical hope is more than simple optimism. It is full confidence based on God’s promise that He will never break. When it is difficult for us, we turn to the truth with which the Apostle Paul comforted believers who longed for their dead friends: “If we believe that Jesus died and rose again, God will also bring the dead through Jesus with Him” ​​(1 Thess. 4:14). Let this confidence comfort us and give us strength in spite of all sorrows.

How do you draw strength from God’s promises? How can you comfort someone who is grieving the loss of a loved one?

Heavenly Father, thank You for hope and comfort. Strengthen me so that I can support others.

Author: Leslie Koh