This is not an easy topic to write about.  But, since this is what I have been involved with the past few days, I thought I would share some insight with you.

My dear friend asked me to do the memorial service for his mother who passed away.  I agreed, and on Tuesday, we had the services for Nancy Mae Young.

I have performed many of these services over the years, and it is never easy.  You are standing in front of a group of very sad people, and rightfully so.

As I stood before family and friends, I reminded them that it really doesn’t matter what denomination you belong to, or what country you are from, or in what type of culture you were raised.  In fact, it doesn’t matter what your religious beliefs are. In these circumstances everyone has sorrow.

I went on to share that for Christians, the Scriptures teach that even though we do have sorrow over the loss of a loved one, we do not have sorrow like those who have no hope.

We Have Hope

Now I am very well aware that there are many different teachings regarding what happens to you when you die.  That fact becomes very apparent to me whenever I do a memorial service for someone.

But I wasn’t there to try and convince anyone of anything.  I was there to help and to love and to comfort all those who were grieving.  And since the Scriptures are pretty plain about what words will comfort those who are grieving, I chose to share what I knew and believed from the Scriptures in a very loving manner.

As I spoke to this sad gathering of people, some were just so overwhelmed with grief that they seemed to be oblivious to what I was sharing.  But then again, you never know.

Some were partially listening, but obviously distracted.  Others were pondering what I was saying, maybe hearing it for the first time.  And there were those to whom this was a familiar message and it was indeed comforting to them in their time of sorrow.

He Is Coming Back!

If you are a fan of the Bible then you know that God has promised to one day send His Son, Jesus Christ, back for us.  At that day, and not before, all those who are “born again,” including those who have died, and those who are still alive, will be gathered together and given a new body, similar to Jesus Christ’s resurrected body.

(Now this is very logical, right?  If we have been promised eternal life, the body that we are living in right now is simply not going to make it that long!  If we are truly going to live forever, we are certainly going to need a new body, a much better body than we have now.)

I pointed out that the Scriptures really cause us to stop and think when we read that if in this life only we hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.  And that is so true isn’t it?

If this life that we are living right now is all there is, then what’s the point of anything?  Even if you lived to be a hundred and fifty years old, if this is all there is, then what is the point?  There is no point.

They Are Asleep

I went on to tell them that many times in the Scriptures you read the word “sleep” referring to death.  Why?  Because for the believer, death is temporary.  There is a day coming when those who have died will be raised from the dead.

It really is comforting to know and understand what happens when you die, and, also, what is going to be happening in the future when Christ returns.  The Scriptures declare that God does not want us to be ignorant concerning this topic.  God does not want us to guess or believe something that came from the mind of man.  That means that the answers must be in the God inspired words of the Bible.

And while there is sorrow and grief, those that hear these words are comforted because they can readily see that there is a day coming; they can have real and true hope.

Waves

I did mention to everyone that grief is similar to the waves in the ocean.  At the onset of grief, those waves are big and those waves are frequent.  But as time goes by, the waves do get smaller and less frequent.

There will be times for all of us when we lose a loved one and find ourselves attending a memorial service.  It will never be pleasant.  But at those times we can take great comfort that one day, God will indeed send His Son.

We can have confidence that our God will fulfill what He has promised and that He will indeed send Jesus Christ back.  That day will be a day of incredible joy.

It is a day that I certainly anticipate with great expectation.

Until Then

But until then, until that day, as I told everyone at the service, we need to live the life that we have been given.  Life is a precious gift.  We should live it to the fullest the best that we can.  And, really, all we can do day by day is live our lives the best that we can for that day.

We can live our lives with confidence in our God to perform what He has promised in the Bible.  And as we continue to see His hand of blessing, our lives will be full of joy.

Mike Verdicchio

PS – If you think this article might bring some comfort and understanding to someone else, you can email them this link:  http://confidenceandjoy.com/true-comfort-in-times-of-sorrow/