Skip to main content

Encouraging One Another by the Word in Times of Grief By Pastor Charlie Handren

By Anonymous
     In times of grief we sometimes offer one another empty platitudes, mainly because we don’t know what else to say or do. But sometimes, for fear of making this mistake, we remain silent and fail to encourage one another with godly wisdom, even though this is what the Scripture calls us to do.
     Consider the words of Paul where he writes, “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. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 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. 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. 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. Therefore encourage one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
     Beloved, Paul wants us to be informed about the truth so that we will grieve well before the Lord, that is, so that we might grieve in light of the undying hope we have in Jesus. Neither offering one another the wisdom of the world nor remaining silent will help us in the long run. But encouraging one another by the words and wisdom of God will be of tremendous help, for it anchors us in the person of God, the truth and worldview of God, and the hope of God in our Lord Jesus Christ.
     This is why Paul ends his exhortation with the words, “Therefore encourage one another with these words” (4:18). First, Paul is exhorting us to act and speak to one another rather than to remain silent. It has been said that idleness is the devil’s playground, and in times of grief, silence is his playground, too. So let us not build a playground for the flesh, the world, and the devil by remaining silent, rather, let us resolve to encourage one another in times of grief.
     Second, Paul is exhorting us to encourage one another by the words and wisdom of God rather than the empty platitudes of the flesh, the world, and the devil. Jesus weeps when his people grieve but he also speaks, and he primarily speaks through his Word. So in times of grief, let us redouble our efforts to saturate our minds with his Word and then encourage one another by his Word. As we seek him, he will speak to us, and as he speaks to us, let us boldly and compassionately speak to one another. If we will hear and heed Paul’s loving exhortation to “encourage one another with these words,” we will not only get through but grow through every season of grief. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

To Have My Soul Happy in the Lord, by George Muller

By Anonymous
To Have My Soul Happy in the Lord By George Muller “It has pleased the Lord to teach me a truth, the benefit of which I have not lost for more than fourteen years. The point is this: I saw more clearly than ever that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not how much I might serve the Lord, or how I might glorify the Lord, but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished. “I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God—not prayer, but the Word of God. And here again, not the simple reading of the Word of God so that it only passes through my mind just as water runs through a pipe, but considering what I read, pondering over it, and applying it to my heart. To meditate on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed. And that thus,...
Post a Comment
Read more

Reflective Glory: How the Moon Displays the Mercy of God

By
Our sun is a fitting metaphor for the glory of God. In the context of our solar system, it is massive, bright, beautiful, powerful, self-sufficient, heat-producing, life-giving, and dangerous. It is, by far, the dominant feature of our solar system and without it the system would fling apart and all living things therein would die.  On the other hand, our moon is a fitting metaphor for human beings, especially for those who believe in Jesus Christ. First, compared to the sun, the moon is tiny and dim. The sun is 400 times larger than the moon, its mass is 27 million times greater than the mass of the moon, and from our perspective its light shines 450,000 times brighter than that of the moon. The sun is so much greater than the moon that it’s difficult to quantify and express the difference. Likewise, the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is so much great than each and all of us that it’s impossible to quantify or express the difference. Indeed, the Lord is very great and greatly...
Post a Comment
Read more

When Children Say "I'm Bored" By Julie Lowe

By
This Article is written by Julie Lowe and was originally posted on the CCEF blog.  I highlighted the areas of particular interest. I had already prepared a blogpost on dealing with boredom from a Christian worldview and then came across this. There is much overlap between the two, perhaps this one is more concise while my work attempts to explain the connection between the ability to think and the ability to be happy. You can visit the original blogpost in the link provided below.  https://www.ccef.org/resources/blog/children-say-im-bored   We have a common crisis in our home; it is the calamity of boredom. Our children might even consider it a catastrophe. “I’m bored” is repeated so often it would not be an overstatement to say that these words echo continuously throughout our home especially during any break from school. These are children with limited media time but still children with a Wii and Xbox system, a pool outside our door, multiple games, toy...
Post a Comment
Read more