Comfort

This week I was reminded, once again, of how precious life is. And how God's timing is HIS timing, not ours. Crappy (and painful) as that may seem, we don't know the bigger picture and He has chosen not to reveal everything to us. We just need to trust Him. Sounds simple, but it's not.

After a prompting from a friend a couple of days ago, I've been reciting something in my head that I learned as a kid. And as a teenager I wondered "why do I have to memorize this boring stuff??". Well, it's for times like these...times when I am confused about God and His purpose for our lives, and when my faith is shaky. I grieve for my friends and church family, as they mourn the tragic loss of a sister, daughter, cousin, friend. And for her husband and 2 young children who are left behind to deal with such an unfathomable emptiness. God decided to take His beloved daughter home to be with Him, while she slept. No warning, no time to say goodbye to loved ones. Just gone from this life.

And so I am asked: What is your only comfort, in life and in death?

That I am not my own
But belong, body and soul
in life, and in death
to my faithful Saviour Jesus Christ

He has fully paid for all my sins with His precious blood
And has set me free from the tyranny of the devil
He also watches over me in such a way
that not a hair can fall from head
without the will of my Father in heaven
In fact, all things must work together for my salvation.

Because I belong to Him
Christ, by His Spirit
assures me of eternal life
and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready
from now on to live for Him.

(The Heidelberg Catechism, Lord's Day #1) I don't remember the other 84 questions, but this one sums it up anyway. And I am comforted. I pray my friends also find comfort in these words. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow... but someday.