You Are Not Alone

Even for followers of Jesus, not every day is filled with hugs and smiles and good news. Some days are difficult. Pain, grief, and loss are often the lot of even the most committed Christian believers. What the disciple of Jesus needs to know is not that days are going to be easy but that no matter what life brings, God is with you. The shortest verse in the Bible is John 11:35, which says, simply, “Jesus wept.” Jesus was affected by the grief of His friends as He stood at the tomb of Lazarus.

Grief affected Jesus then, and it still does.

Our compassionate Savior still feels for those who carry heavy burdens. Whatever you’re going through, you are not alone. Human beings weren’t created to experience fear, death, or loss. These are intruders. When God created humanity in the Garden of Eden, He wired us for contentment, joy, and security.

For six thousand years, people have been grappling with the gritty realities of life, and in all that time, the stark realities of hardship and loss have become no less difficult to process. Witness a Middle Eastern mother mourning the loss of her son after a suicide bombing; a peasant woman struggling to make sense of the catastrophic flood that destroyed her home and swept away her livelihood; an elderly man walking numbly to his car following the funeral of his wife of sixty-five years.

A lifetime of living in a world where death, grief, and loss are expected has not made it any easier to deal with such difficulties.

Where is hope to be found when emotions are raw and experiences are painful? There is a Savior who feels for you, who understands what it is to experience loss and hurt, and who will uphold you even in your darkest moments.

There is a God in heaven who understands from experience what it is to lose the One most precious to Him. By experience, God understands the pain of loss. Heaven has demonstrated there is comfort to be found for those wrestling with life’s difficult moments.