by Rev. Mark Creech
RevMarkCreech.org
Some losses in this life are harder to bear than death itself. Death takes from us someone we love, but there are other sorrows that take from us an entire world. Yet somehow, we must go on living in the shadow of what is no more.
For these losses, there are no funerals, no flowers laid upon a grave, no gathering of mourners to acknowledge what has passed away. The world goes on, barely noticing that something sacred has ended. But the heart sees it, knows it, feels it, and the silence left behind can be more deafening than any lament.
Some griefs are too profound for words and too private for explanation. They dwell in the soul’s hidden chambers, where only God can see their full measure. No matter how earnestly others seek to explain the inexplicable or offer comfort, some wounds no earthly balm can relieve. These wounds can afflict with shame, which, rightly borne or wrongly assumed, can cling like tar and feathers.
Here faith is most severely tested—not when we understand, but when we cannot; when nothing is left to recover, nothing left to restore as it once was, and no path leads back to yesterday. Still, we place the shattered pieces in the hands of Him who has promised to make all things new, believing He is worthy of that trust.
The world may never know the circumstances. The world may not comprehend the depth of the sorrow, or understand how much was loved or how much was lost. But God knows. God remembers. And God is not finished with His work of grace.
