Luke 7:11-17
I Corinthians 13:12
Earlier this year, I met a man whose face reflected his inner saddness. When I asked him what was wrong he confessed that he had just been laid off. He was having trouble seeing clearly how he could make his way through this challenging dilemma. I had prayer with this stranger right there in front of the church. It reminded me of the stranger who had prayer with me when my mother was in the hospital dying. I too had trouble seeing how I would make it through her death. Dealing with loss in any area of our life can be a faith-testing time. Loss and grief can distort our vision and view of God. In the above bible story Jesus is passing through the city of Nain when he encounters a widow woman burying her only son. We can only imagine her sadness. She is without a husband and without a son. She is a woman with a grim future. I can imagine her looking up to see Jesus with her tear-stained eyes. She may have assumed him to be just another mourner in the crowd. But Jesus wasn’t there to grieve, he was there to heal. This story reminds us that Jesus does restorative work in our lives. He can and will restore, renew and rejuvenate us when we are so filled with grieve. During these painful moments we have to look up (adjust our vision) and listen up (adjust our hearing) in order to be lifted up. Our ability to see God in dark times and through our tears will be critical if we want to live in this life and in the one to come.
