O Death, where is thy sting?
Greg did a funeral for a tiny baby this week. His name was Gabriel and he only lived for a few days. No one is sure why Garbriel died, he just stopped breathing one night. His parents are devastated, of course. I felt so sad at the funeral, his little body looked just like a doll. When children die, it always stirs up my own feelings of loss. But more than that, I ache for the parents because I know what a long road of grief they have to walk. The pain subsides, mercifully, but the ache and the emptiness never completely vanish.
But we do not grieve as those who have no hope. In fact, I found the most awesome verse this week as I was searching for comfort for the bereaved parents:
"I am Gabriel and I stand in the presence of God." Luke 1:19.
Little Gabriel no longer inhabits his earthly body, but his spirit is alive and quite well, and he IS in the presence of God, for a fact! That's an amazing truth that brings peace and comfort to the soul if we can only take it in.
This world is not our home, we're just a passin' through . . .