Jesus Weeps Over Our Pain, Trauma and Brokenness
by Derek Puffett
During these difficult times of Covid-19 and other causes resulting in unexpected death, so many families around the world have experienced the trauma of losing a loved one that emotionally affects family and friends deeply.
Recently, my family received tragic news. While he was on holiday in the United States, my brother contracted the Covid-19 virus and died. It was so unexpected and traumatic for the whole family having to go through this, especially when it was supposed to be a happy holiday experience. Although the doctors and nursing staff were extremely efficient and kind, and we thank God for them, the fact remains it was still incredibly emotionally hard for us all.
My heart goes out to everyone who loses a loved one under any circumstances. For a short while, gripped with feelings of numbness, no attempts of comfort from others seemed to have any effect on me. But then words in the form of a question popped into my head, “Where does my help come from?” These words come from Psalm 121:1. The answer to that question is in the next verse, “My help comes from the Lord” (Psalm 121:2).
Renewed hope for healing the inner pain rose up in me when I read the Scripture in John Chapter 11. I realised that Jesus, who loves us so much, and even died an awful death for our sins, is not unaware of our distresses. When He saw Lazarus’ sister Mary and others weeping over their loss, He too was deeply moved in His spirit and wept for their loss of a loved one.
Jesus has no pleasure seeing us in a state of brokenness. Yet for all of us, death is our lot in life. It was so reassuring to me to realise Jesus knows our pain and heartache. He reassures Martha, in verse 40 of the same chapter, that nothing is impossible for Him. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odour, for he has been there four days.” Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
Jesus may not have raised our loved one from the dead, but let us be reassured and know that, in difficult times, Jesus is right there with us and weeps for us (verse 35). Let us not turn to doubt, but rather turn to Jesus, our comforter in times of trouble. Let us rather believe and receive comfort from Him and ‘see the glory of God’ come shining through for us.
What an amazing comforter Jesus is when we look to Him for our comfort. We can also be reassured of the fact that He was not taken by surprise by the passing of our loved one. He has our loved one in His welcoming arms. Let us look to Jesus for our earthly comfort, as my family and I did.
Derek Puffett is the Regional Director of Ellel Ministries, Africa. He was a Pastor for 12 years before joining Ellel in 2000. In 1986 he and his wife Beryl pioneered and established Telefriend, now under the management of Ellel. Telefriend is a South African National Christian telephone care line with an evangelistic emphasis.
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