Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Earth Has No Sorrow That Heaven Cannot Heal
The apostle Paul wrote of grief
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
1 Thess 4:13-18 (ESV)
Christians grieve ion a way differently from those around them. We grieve having the confidence that one day we will see our loved ones again.
James Whitcomb Riley wrote;
There! little girl! don’t cry!
They have broken your doll, I know;
And your tea-set blue,
And your play-house, too,
Are things of long ago;
But childish troubles will soon pass by,
There! little girl! don’t cry!
There! little girl! don’t cry!
They have broken your slate, I know;
And the glad wild ways
Of your school-girl days
Are things of the long ago;
But life and love will soon come by,
There! little girl! don’t cry!
There! little girl! don’t cry!
They have broken your heart, I know;
And the rainbow gleams
Of your youthful dreams
Are things of the long ago;
But heaven holds all for which you sigh,
There! little girl! don’t cry!
Heaven holds all for which believers sigh; there is our Lord, there are those we love.
Thomas Moore’s heart was broken by the death of two dear daughters. When the second died, he rushed out of his house crying to hsi wife “Oh Bessie I cannot bear it” to wrestle with his sorrow in solitude. He penned these words of hope:
Come, ye disconsolate, where'er you languish,
Come, at God's altar fervently kneel;
Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish--
Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal.
Joy of the desolate, Light of the straying,
Hope, when all others die, fadeless and pure,
Here speaks the Comforter, in GOD'S name saying--
"Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot cure."
Go, ask the infidel, what boon he brings us
What charm for aching hearts _he_ can reveal,
Sweet as that heavenly promise Hope sings us--
"Earth has no sorrow that GOD cannot heal."
We grieve, but not as those without hope.
Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal!
