sorrow

The Signature of God

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The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Psalm 19:1 ESV

One of my favorite reasons for going to the beach is to watch the sunset over the Gulf of Mexico. Any sunset is beautiful but the most spectacular require some clouds on the horizon, for the sun to light up with amazing shades of red, orange and yellow below the canopy of a fading blue sky.  When my sister-in-law passed away recently, I was reminded of sunsets in our own lives. Our years of day trips into Chinatown, Christmases at the big house when all six brothers and sisters gathered and walks in Golden Gate Park reflected off the clouds of sorrow that came with the phone call telling us of Diane’s passing.

Though grief has settled on our horizon, God is painting the colors of sunset on our hearts with hope. Diane’s hope was not in the doing or possessing of anything here on this shore, but across the other side of the sea with Jesus Christ. The beauty of the hope we hold onto when the blue sky of our passing years fades is His signature which says, “This life is mine, and a new and happier one lies across the sea.”  There we will meet Diane again, where we will be able to run up heaven’s hills and together breathe deeply of its pure air. Our life here is just an unfinished canvas. If we put the paintbrush of our will into the Master’s hands, He will fill our days with His design and sign at the bottom when He is done. Just as every sunset tells us that God has finished another day, so a life that is His will receive His signature, declaring, “This is mine – and all that has passed is only the beginning of all the wonders that lie in store!”

What Does Hope Look Like?

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But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.  Ruth 1:16 ESV

In this small Old Testament book, we meet a woman named Naomi, for whom all natural hope seemed to be lost. She had followed her husband to a foreign land where he and both of their sons died. Naomi was alone in that strange place, a woman with no resources, no hope, future and no idea where to turn. Her only choice was to return to her home village.

But Naomi found hope in the unexpected kindness of her faithful daughter-in-law Ruth. Ruth shows all of us how holding on to God in desperate times gives hope both to us and to those around us. Even at the lowest point of Naomi’s life, God had already begun to work to restore hope. That hope began in the form of Ruth. Though no one else would go with Naomi and no one else would help, Ruth chose to remain. Ruth chose to walk with Naomi through that darkest time of her life. Ruth had no answers to give and no special abilities to offer. Ruth simply stood by her friend.

God has also begun a work in every one of our lives. Even when we find ourselves in unexpected sorrow God is in control. We don’t need to know all the answers to be kind. God Himself will bring us Hope and He can use us to bring hope to someone else. What does hope look like? With God’s help it just might look like you or me!

What Does Hope Look Like? by Peter Caligiuri © 2020 All rights reserved

Man of Sorrows – God of Comfort

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He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.          Isaiah 53:3 KJV

“Man of Sorrows what a name?” begins the hymn by Phillip Bliss, that points us to Jesus, who understands our grief because He has walked in our shoes. And if even Jesus, the Son of God, could not escape sorrows; how much more can we think that they will not invade ours without warning? The Sunday before my mother died I was leaving church when my friend Jerry stopped me to ask how she was doing. For a moment I stumbled over a few words trying to explain and then the dam of my emotions broke. “Not good Jerry; not good at all!” I choked out and then I sat down in the closest pew and began to weep. Suddenly I was surrounded not only by Jerry but by my wife and several of our friends as a tidal wave of memories, regrets and grief swept over me.

I am still so thankful for their love and quiet comfort that day because it helped prepare me for the phone call from the hospice just a few days later telling me that she was gone. Really tough times are impossible to plan for. For every one of us there will come a point where we have nothing left and there only grace remains. There Jesus; who was called a man of sorrows, comes with comfort. Sometimes He gives us a sense of His presence; sometimes He reminds us of His promises and at others He uses the arms of family and friends to hold us close to His heart.

Imported from phone 229