Hi there, I’m Patricia. And welcome to God Today. I want to encourage you today. I don’t know how many are going through this today. I just lost my mom a couple of months ago and it was unexpected in one sense. She was ill, but I didn’t think that it would happen so quickly. She was a believer. She loved God. And in one sense, she wanted to keep living, you know, to see her grandchildren and great-grandchildren, but that was not the plan for her life. But I want to encourage you today. If you have lost a loved one, maybe even, you know, a dog or something that was very, very special to you. I want to encourage you with the word. The word of God is truth, and it says here in 1 Thessalonians 4:13, “Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or those who pass away, or to grieve like the rest of men who have no hope.” And thank God we have hope, we have the hope of God. “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.”
I want to talk a little bit about grief and bereavement. I find that the last few weeks that I’ve been talking to some people, sometimes people get a bit stuck and they don’t move on from there. Somebody said to me, “You don’t move away, or you don’t move away from that, you move forward.” You know, grief. I want to tell you what, grief is not something to pass through and get over. What we were, what they did, will always be part of me. And I think of my mom and I think of maybe your mom today, maybe it’s your sister, maybe it’s an uncle, maybe it’s a child, young child who passed away. You know, it says here, what we were, or who you were with that person, what he or she did will always be part of me. And that is so good to know that that person that was so close to you will always be part of you. You don’t move on, but you go forward with that person.
I want to pray for you today. Father, I thank you for that person, listening today, who has lost a loved one, I pray that you will comfort them, that they will know that you are with them, that they are not alone. And that precious person that they have lost, that they go with them, all those memories or those beautiful memories that they have with them. They don’t move on from them, but they go forward. We love you and bless you today, in Jesus’ Name.