1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

New International Version (NIV)

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

For Meditation

Her first child was so dear to her. Unfortunately, Prof’s marriage broke and she was left to raise their four children as single parent. By God’s grace, the children grew well, until calamity struck. Her first son, Nana, became alcoholic and she couldn’t stand it. So, Papa, her third boy, became her heart and hope. The night before Papa’s flight to the USA for graduate school, he and his buddies went out for the last time. He was killed in a dawn accident on his way back home, and his mom was crushed. But Nana got better, and hope began to rise again. Unfortunately, fate dealt the mother another hard and crushing blow when the ultimate call came one day: “Nana has passed on to glory”. It was just about eleven months after Papa’s death.

1. What does a mother do in such devastated circumstances? A broken marriage; single parenthood; shattered hopes; death’s icy claim of two beloved children, only eleven months apart!
2.  How cruel could life be? And you want to tell Prof that God is good? You really want to convince her that He is a loving and kind God who deserves her thanks; for that is His will for her in Christ Jesus (1 Thess. 4:18)?
3. How could Prof thank the God she has trusted and served all her life, but has rewarded her with such pain? Does He exist at all? If He does; does He really care?
4. Don’t we all go through such crisis of faith from time to time? At such times, who else can we turn to for the peace we need to carry on with life? Ironically, is it not to the same sovereign God who rules over all? Haven’t millions like us found strength in the reality of His existence and the genuineness of His love and kindness demonstrated to us through His Son Jesus Christ ( Rm. 5:7; Jn. 3:16; 1 J. 3:16)?
5. If only we could open our hearts to Him and identify with His pain when Christ hung on the Cross; don’t you think we could receive from Him, the same strength that carried Him through it all (Eph. 1:19-21; 2 Tim. 1:7)?

I pray that at such times, we can turn to His word and draw encouragement from the examples of saints like David, when his son died (2 Sam. 12:16-23), and from Paul and Silas’ experience in the dungeon in Philippi (Acts 16:25). They found strength in Christ to praise God in spite of their pain. He will give us the same strength to carry us through our painful experiences.

So: May we not close our lives to Christ when bad things come our way – as our sister, the Professor has done. Rather, may we trust in God’s faithful promises to carry us through those dark nights until the day dawns, when we see His face in glory!

Please pray for our sister in reference this morning.

Shalom