“And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me.” – Gen 42:36
“What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?” – Rom. 8:31
“Basically I’ll never be happy again. This is going to haunt me the rest of my life!” I recently heard those words from a father whose son had been murdered. I can’t even begin to know how that man felt. And I’m certainly not going to boast about what I would do if the same thing happened to me. But I do know this – that’s not what God wants, and I don’t think that’s what that man wanted, nor what his son would want for him. While I suspect that you and I might feel the same, that doesn’t mean we have to, or that we should.
As a pastor I’ve witnessed parents so grief stricken by the loss of a child that it paralyzed them for the rest of their lives. They couldn’t think about or talk about anything else other than their loss. They spend the rest of their lives living in misery because of their bad experience. It seems that Jacob was headed in that direction when he said “all these things are against me”. At that moment he had no idea what great things God had in store for him. May I say, Nor do you. God has kept you alive and He has a plan for you. I don’t want to sound insensitive, but you don’t have the right to stop living. Regardless of how great your grief is, and God expects you to grieve, God’s grace is greater. It can sustain you through anything (2 Cor. 12:9). You can laugh again. God can turn your memories into monuments of mercy. Not only will they remind you of the blessing you had, this experience can be used of God to show others the greatness of His power. Like you, they need to know that the power of God is greater than any problem we will ever have. Since God commands us to “rejoice in the Lord alway” ( Phil. 4:4) you can do it! Never allow your problem to rob you of the pleasure of fulfilling your purpose in life. Regardless of what is against you, God is for you and with you! Rest your troubled heart on those facts. – HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346
