Hope in Grief

Hey, welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. The reading for today, titled Hope and Grief, was written by Leslie Coe. Louise was a lively, playful girl who brought smiles to all she met. At the age of five, she tragically succumbed to a rare disease. Her sudden passing was a shock to her parents, Day-Day and Peter, and to all of us who worked with them. We grieved along with them. Yet Day-Day and Peter have found the strength to keep going. When I asked Day-Day how they were coping, she said they drew strength from focusing on where Louise was, in Jesus' loving arms.

We rejoice for our daughter, whose time is up to go into eternal life, she said. By God's grace and strength, we can navigate through the grief and continue to do what he has entrusted us to do. Day-Day's comfort is found in her confidence in the heart of God, who revealed himself in Jesus. biblical hope is much more than mere optimism.

It's an absolute certainty based on God's promise, which he will never break. In our sadness, we can cling to this powerful truth. As Paul encouraged those grieving over departed friends in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. May this certain hope give us strength and comfort today, even in our grief.

Today's Our Daily Bread devotional scripture reading is from 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verses 13-18. Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore, encourage one another with these words. Let's pray. Father, thank you for the hope and comfort that we have in you today. Strengthen us, even in our deepest sorrows, so that we can encourage others in theirs today. Thank you, Lord. It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen. Thanks for listening today. My name is Wes Ward, and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.