DEATH BE NOT PROUD

Blog 131
August 26, 2019

MIRACLES NEVER CEASE!

You might also want to look at the widely read blog WISE ON THE MIDDLE EAST from Robert L. Wise, Ph.D. which features weekly updates on little known facts about Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria, countries where he has traveled and worked.

DEATH BE NOT PROUD

The grief from death is one of our most difficult struggles to overcome.

Death leaves a hole that nothing can fill. When the deceased is close to us, grief seems to never end. When we wake up each day, we think maybe there is something that we should have done, but there never is. At times, we will forget that they are gone, and then we remember and our heart breaks all over again. Trying to tell someone what we are going through seems impossible, but to someone who has already known such a loss, resonance comes immediately.

Jack Jenkins knew exactly what I am talking about. Today, Jack lives in Bailey, Colorado in the Rocky Mountains. He said to me, “God knows about our problems and he truly cares.” The emotional undercurrent in his words told me Jack knew.

Jack began telling me about his first wife. They had a good marriage and life seemed great. Her early death left him struggling and feeling the depth of depression. He had to struggle along with never-ending grief. The journey was difficult.

Somewhere as he was trudging along on his life’s path, Jack ran into an old girlfriend he had known in High School. They had been close and really liked and enjoyed each other. However, as so often is the case, they drifted apart after graduation and didn’t see other for years. They both married and had great families. But her husband also died. Then they found each other again. The reassurance and joy they received from each other was truly a new beginning. They married and once again Jack was back on an even keel. Depression had been put to bed.

Not long after they married, his new bride had to go to the doctor. The diagnosis overwhelmed both of them She had pancreatic cancer. Three weeks later she was gone.

Jack’s recovery and best hopes were destroyed. He plunged into the deepest despair. The grief would not go away. Jack crashed.

Some months later while Jack was taking a trip, he stopped in a filling station and went inside to buy some candy. At the end of a long hall, Jack saw a vending machine. The closer he got, the more he realized it was one of those dispensaries with junk that kids liked. However, there was nothing inside except one badge that had GOD written across the front. Jack was astonished and got the little medallion out. On the back was written, “Cast your cares on Him for he cares for you. Jesus died on the cross for your pain.”

Jack instantly knew that message was for him. God was reaching and asking Jack to cast his grief on Him. With tears rolling down his cheeks, Jack hurled his overwhelming load of grief at the foot of the Cross. He asked his heavenly Father to heal him.

He did.

Jack’s grief disappeared and the apprehension vanished. There was still a hole in his life where he had lost his two best friends, but the pain was gone. Jack was healed.

No one can escape the fact of death, but Jack’s experience is worth remembering. We are included in that promise that we are cared for.