Leadership Thought: The Passing of My Son in Law, and the Victory of Every Believer

Dear Friends,

Once again, I write to say thanks for thinking of and praying for our family. Your kind and prayerful responses have meant so much to me and our families.

Yesterday was a sad day as I received news that my son in law had been taken off life support.

I was able to hold a brief service by phone as his  family and my daughter and grandchildren gathered around his bedside to say their final goodbyes.

I thought of Jesus as he stood beside the grave of Lazarus and in the shortest verse in the bible, we read "He wept." 

Yes, Jesus was broken hearted over the loss of his good friend. His tears were real, genuine, and unfeigned as ours were last night, and because they were, we know that he understands and identifies with the pain of our loss. 

As Jesus stood beside the tomb of Lazarus, we capture a glimpse of how the Father feels for the affliction and grief his children experience. Our pain is his pain, and our grief is his grief, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness (Hebrews 4:12).  

But as Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave, he will also raise those who are his own by faith from the grave.

From the graveside we cry out with Paul. "Oh death, where is your sting? O grave where is your victory?

And Jesus answers for He always has the final word. 

“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die. John 11:25."

Jesus has taken away the sting of death as I am reminded in the following story.

A little boy and his father were driving down a country road on a beautiful spring afternoon. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a bumblebee flew in the car window. Since the little boy was deathly allergic to bee stings, he became petrified. His father quickly reached out, grabbed the bee, squeezed it in his hand, and then released it. But as soon as he let it go, the young son became frantic once again, as it buzzed around him.

The father sensed his son's terror. Once again, he reached out his hand, but this time. he pointed to his hand. There, stuck in his skin was the stinger of the bee. 

"You see this?" he asked. "You don't need to be afraid anymore. I've taken the sting for you."

The Christian does not need to be afraid of death because Christ has taken its sting away. 

"Oh death, where is your sting? Oh, grave, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin and the. strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15: 55-57) 

Those words make up the blessed hope of Jeff, and his family, and my daughter and her family. "Thanks be to God who gives us the victory."

Yours in faith and friendship,

Tom