Hope colors how we grieve the death of our loved ones.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

Many of us in the United States would love to have the view of this house in Honduras. This home is surrounded by mountains and secluded from other people.

Honduras

However, it looks like this building might collapse at any moment.

The smoke rising from the chimney is evidence that someone lives in this home. In fact, this might have been the home of someone who worshiped at the church where I stood when I took this picture.

This home represents our lives. We’re surrounded by the beauty of God’s creation, but there’s something wrong. We call that something death. Like this house, our lives will finally give in to decay and we’ll die.

Jesus died and we remember that his body laid cold in death in his tomb.

“And Joseph bought a linen shroud, and taking [Jesus] down, wrapped him in the linen shroud and laid him in a tomb that had been cut out of the rock. And he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb.”
Mark 15:46 English Standard Version

We not only think of Jesus’s rest in his grave, but we also consider our loved ones who have died, whom we deeply miss. We feel the pain and the separation of their deaths, yet we grieve with hope because we know the rest of the story. We know the victory of Jesus’ resurrection.

It is okay to feel sad. It’s okay to take out pictures of loved ones who’ve died and to both laugh and cry. It’s okay because even though death is painful, it’s not the end.

Copyright Douglas P Brauner