The Word is Hope

Daily Gratitude Year 5-Day 71: Today, I am grateful for The Word that gives us hope.

Mama always said, "Death comes in threes." That is true for us this week. Three. 

Three families mourning someone special. 

Grief is personal and individual, yet when families come together... something special can happen in the shared grief. The burden gets a little lighter. Grief's tension is broken by fun or funny memories. Loved ones focus on the one who "needs the most help" in grieving and they find their strength in holding another up.  

Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope.
50 This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life. -Psalm 119:49-50

Here it is again in the New Life Version:

 I will lift up my hands to Your Word, which I love, and I will think about Your Law. Remember Your Word to Your servant, for You have given me hope. Your Word has given me new life. This is my comfort in my suffering. 

Death comes. But, death has no victory over those who know the taste of redemption, salvation and propitiation. We can breathe.

“O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” -1 Corinthians 15:55

Death has been reduced to a door... a portal ... entrance to a new life.  For some, the release of a worn out tired body. For others, it is a heavenly healing and a new, fabulous body. (I am grabbing a size 8!) No creaks, groans or aging bones in heaven. No nerve damage, no disease,  and no vision corrected eyes. Only nimble, quick legs that dance, farm, garden, work the animals and walk without growing weary. Only perfect vision as we take in the Glory of the Lord. 

For those who left waiting their turn... there is sadness, even when we know that suffering is over. Love grieves. But, with that sadeness there is gratitude for a life lived, a relationship shared and the unique place a loved one holds in our hearts remains. Love gaurds that precious memory and keeps it safe. 

We grieve because we are human. We hope because we know, trust and have claimed the work Jesus did on the cross. We are never alone.


"From the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I." -Psalm 61:2

Today, I am grateful for The Word that gives us hope.