RISING UP FROM GRIEF TO A LIFE OF MEANING AND PURPOSE

English author, apologist, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian, C. S. Lewis, known also for his famous series of books, “The Chronicles of Narnia” writes in a letter, on 10th August 1948 – 77 years back, till date, something very profound, and much needed words for every Christian…
– “We ought to give thanks for all fortune: if it is good, because it is good; if bad, because it works in us patience, humility, contempt of this world and the hope of our eternal country.” – C. S. Lewis

Words of C. S. Lewis echo the words of Job, to his distraught wife.
– “20 Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.” 22 In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong…9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” 10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” – Job 1:20-22; 2:9-10

We, as Christians, and the disciples of the LORD Jesus, ought to thank God, at all times is the essence of what Job and Lewis are saying to us, this morning. We are to RISE UP FROM OUR GRIEF and steadily step forward TO A LIFE OF MEANING AND PURPOSE. Here are some gleaning from the words of Job – Job 1:20-22; 2:9-10.
– Face adversity with grace and poise.
– Accept adversity as the “will” of God, who had allowed it into our lives.
– Adapt ourselves –  our hearts, minds and emotions – to the changed reality.
– Grieve if we must, which is but natural.
– Tighten our belts, and with resolve in our hearts and minds, let us get up, and get going, with unfazed determination.
– Let us seek the greater and higher purposes of God, and pursue them with passion, despite the storms and the struggles.
– Ask, what is the purpose in all what has befallen us.
– Seek the meaning and purpose for our lives, which may be blurred, because of our disturbed emotions.

1- PHOEBE PALMER – 29 July 1836
– “Phoebe Palmer rocks her beloved eleven-month-old daughter Eliza to sleep and puts her to bed. Soon afterward, a careless helper has an accident with an oil lamp, severely burning the baby, who dies. In grief, Palmer will be driven to seek God’s face as never before, becoming a leading voice of the American holiness movement.”

2- JOSEPH M. SCRIVEN – 10 August 1886
– Joseph M. Scriven a Plymouth Brethren hymnwriter, author of the hymn “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” dies because of drowning. He is plagued, most of his life, by failing health, a meagre income, and prolonged depression. His friends suspect his death may have been suicide. He had spent his life performing menial work for the underprivileged and destitute. A man of frequent misfortune, his plans for marriage had twice been destroyed by tragedy: in Ireland, a bride-to-be drowned the evening before their wedding; in Canada, a second fiancée fell ill, and died suddenly before their scheduled wedding.

– Tough times and tragedies are part of our lives.
– We don’t need to expect them, but most certainly be aware of them, and be prepared to face them, if ever they come visiting us.
– Job is still remembered for his priceless words.
– We many not know, who Joseph M. Scriven is, but are still comforted by the hymn, “What A Friend We Have in Jesus” which he authored, in the midst of pain and anguish.
– We many not know, who Phoebe Palmer is, and what she has done, in her life. But, we surely can read about her life, and her struggles, and know how she turned what was a tragedy of great pain and anguish, into something powerful, that gave her meaning to her life, and purpose to her future.

Whatever we may be facing today, let us first, learn to turn it over, to God. Then, seek God, to help us find meaning and purpose, in the midst of the storm, that may have shattered, all that we had, and all out dreams for a bright and beautiful future. Let us not lose hope. 
– “It’s grace! It’s grace! God will take you where you haven’t chosen to go in order to produce in you what you could not achieve on your own. That’s glorious grace.” – Paul David Tripp

God who allowed the storm, has His reasons. He surely will help us through all our storms, if we are willing to ask God, “What do you want me to do LORD?” – so that I can RISE UP FROM MY GRIEF, TO A LIFE OF MEANING AND PURPOSE. Even so, the LORD help us.