God's Soil in the Grieving Process

          Yesterday I was taking a young guy to his road test when I got a call asking me to help a young lady change a flat tire. It's not unusual to receive calls for help. After 12 years of youth ministry in Buffalo, the word gets out that we will help you when you have a need.

          We stopped and changed the young lady's tire. The young guy with me helped to change the tire. He had lost his brother to violence 2 weeks ago. We had his funeral service 1 week ago. The young lady's brother was killed over 4 years ago. I knew and loved both of the young guys who were killed.When I was a young guy, I didn't know anybody who was killed. Now I'm an old guy and I know lot's of guys who have been killed. 

           Standing in a parking lot with 2 really good young people whose brothers were killed is a sad reality in Buffalo. After I left the young lady with a fresh spare on her car, we drove to the road test. The young man passed his road test, it was a pretty good day. A few hours later in a coffee shop, I had time to reflect on my day. My mood became somber. I realized how eery it was to reflect on the closeness of death, the brevity of life - especially for young guys in Buffalo. Why do I feel like I am surrounded by young folks who experience more than their fair share of grief? Why do I feel like many young people I love are killed before they get a chance to really understand what love is?

          I'm believing for a better future for the young folks in Buffalo. Why? Because many of them are choosing to put God on their side. My wife gave me a shirt for Valentines Day that has a picture and quote by Abraham Lincoln. This is what it says: 
   

  "Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side;

 my greatest concern is to be on God's side,

 for God is always right." 

          I cannot begin to understand everything that happens in life - especially the pain and agony that accompanies the death of someone we love. I do know that the ground has to be broken for a seed to be planted. I do know that through brokenness we are given a greater capacity to love. I let God do the praying through me when my soul is too wrenched in pain to utter anything more that a sob of grief. He understands the unthinkable. He won't let us sink any deeper than a seed that will grow in the soil of His heart.

"If there is darkness in your life, 

just imagine that you are a seed

 buried in the soil of God's heart."

 

You will grow.
This too shall pass.

Romans 8:28

The Message (MSG)

^26-28 Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.

Thanks for your time.

Go do something nice for somebody.

JLYASDW

Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/abrahamlin388944.html#GHc0rPvsDptWiscy.99

Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/abrahamlin388944.html#GHc0rPvsDptWiscy.99