 Life is a vapor. In any moment of any day, anyone can pass into eternity. When we lose someone we love in this way, we can become overwhelmed with disbelief and grief. We search for answers even when we don't know exactly what questions we should be asking. Why did God allow this? How can we go on? After the initial shock, there's a flurry of thoughts that rush through your mind or perhaps there's just one thought about which you cannot stop obsessing. Maybe you feel angry, maybe you feel guilty, maybe hopeless, depressed, afraid, confused. When you lose a loved one, you know that no one can possibly know the pain you feel. Because how can they? The person you lost was unique. The relationship you had with them was unique. Friends' connections are different and so are the ways we grieve those connections. You have a unique collection of experiences, conversations, and feelings that nobody else will ever have and can therefore never understand. Your loss of a parent is different than someone else's loss of a parent. Your loss of a child is different than someone else's loss of a child. The same is true of all loss of a sibling, of a friend, of a family member, of a mentor. We experience a unique kind of pain for the loss of every unique kind of connection. Is there a loved one you fondly remember? Tell us about them in the comments section. Jesus never promised that our lives would be without heartache. Now, I share that truth at the risk of sounding as if I'm trying to minimize grief. But I remind you of this because some are at risk of falling into a snare of bitterness against God. If we believe we are owed a life without pain, then we may feel disillusioned, abandoned, and lied to when we inevitably do feel pain. Especially if one tragedy strikes right after the other. In our struggle to catch a breath, we may find it difficult to remember the goodness of God. When faced with tremendous loss, Job cried, The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Well it's easier said than done. We can praise in the midst of pain. We can trust God even when nothing makes sense. However, we don't serve a God who is cold and distant. He's near to us and he understands our pain. He's the only one, whoever truly can. Christ himself experienced the pain of grief. The King was distressed, but because of his oaths and his dinner guests, he ordered that her request be granted and had John be headed in the prison. His head was brought in on a platter and given to the girl who carried it to her mother. Once disciples came and took his body and buried it, then they went and told Jesus. Jesus heard what had happened. He withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. I believe that Jesus went away to a solitary place to grieve, to weep, to pray. The Lord Jesus can empathize with us, therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. Therefore, we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet he did not sin. That's Hebrews chapter 4 verses 14 and 15. You can be angry, you can ask questions, you can weep, you can grieve. The Lord isn't going to hold it against you, he's going to hold you. The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. That's Psalm chapter 34 verse 18. And in our grief, let us not forget our great hope. Only in God can we find hope for the future, the strength to continue. If grief is an impossible burden to bear, then hope is that help that makes it just possible enough. To who can we turn when death strikes? No man or woman, no matter how powerful they are, can prevent or reverse death. No man or woman, no matter how wise they are, can make sense of it. Only God can give us hope in times of loss and grief. This is why Paul the Apostle wrote, 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 proceed 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'll be with the Lord forever. Therefore, encourage one another with these words. It is the hope of heaven that removes the sting of death, and Christ himself is that hope. Help spread this message of hope with others by leaving a like on this video. Paul the Apostle likens death for the believer to sleep. It's temporary. One day, they will live again. Though it might not be true, I once heard it said that as we enter into the gates of heaven, we'll enter alongside those who died years before we did. What is true is that time, from the perspective of eternity, isn't the uncrossable chasm we often imagine it to be. Perhaps you were able to see your loved one go. If you saw them resting in a casket or on a hospital bed, did you notice how different they looked? The body is only the shell, but the soul lives forever. In fact, Paul the Apostle wrote of the fact that we would one day receive new bodies, glorified vessels that cannot be touched by sickness or death, and the Holy Spirit within us now is the guarantee of the fulfillment of this promise then. For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile, we groan longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed, but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now, the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. That's 2 Corinthians chapter five, verses one through five. Still, one might worry, what of my loved ones who didn't know or accept Christ? And there's always the hope that they, as did the thief on the cross, accepted the Savior with their dying breaths, that they encountered God within the split seconds before they stepped into eternity. So even then, we can find a reason to hope. This is part of the joy of heaven, to again embrace the ones who for now feel so far away. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. That's Romans chapter eight, verse 18. The pain you feel today will one day be washed up in a joyful reunion. And the grief we now feel will become a distant memory. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true, death has been swallowed up in victory. Where oh death is your victory? Where oh death is your sting? That's 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verses 53 to 55. You'll see them again. You'll see your mom again. You will see your dad again. You'll see your brother, your sister, your cousin, your grandma, your grandpa, your friend. They'll be there. That's the hope. You will hold your son again. You will hug your daughter again. Because of the cross, we can say concerning them. For now, it is dark. It is night. For now, you sleep. But I'll see you in the morning. Let's stay connected. Subscribe to my YouTube channel for more encouraging content and click the bell so you don't miss anything. Also, this free content is donor supported. If you've been blessed by this ministry, consider paying it forward. Become a monthly ministry supporter by going to davidhernandezministries.com slash partner. And until next time, remember, nothing is impossible with God.