Suffering

I wake up this morning with a need for prayer. Our Father is calling my grandmother home. She has been in the hospital for a few days now and the doctors say there isn't much time left. In these last moments will you pray for the Lord to be near to her. The Lord would be very present as she navigates these last few hours/days on earth. Pray she would be without pain, without worry...that she would be filled with joy at the coming time with her Creator. Please pray with me this morning.

How gracious is the Father that He would let us experience such loss.

This might offend some. I'm sure many will not agree. It is not by my own might or strength that I can utter such a phrase, but rather, His spirit within me. I cannot pick up the scriptures without facing God's mercy through His allowance of suffering. The apostles did not escape it. We, as those in the "last days", are guaranteed it. By His grace, it fosters within us steadfastness (James 1), genuineness of faith (1 Peter 1) and power (2 Corinthians 12). It also reminds us that there must be more than this (2 Corinthians 4 & 5).

Yes, there is mercy and grace in life going on...but there is also mercy and grace in life stopping for a bit. In a woman going home to the Lord after 88 years of life. In a woman losing her twentysomething husband after 3 years of marriage. In a woman losing her 2-and-a-half hour-old daughter.

This has been a gift. A bittersweet reminder of true reality: this is not our home. We were not made for this. There must be more than this.