“His Grace is Sufficient”
August 20, 2022
“No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. I am not afraid, but the sensation is like being afraid. The same fluttering in the stomach, the same restlessness…I keep on swallowing.” (A Grief Observed, C.S. Lewis)
While I would never aspire to fully understand and interpret exactly what C.S. Lewis meant by this quote, I can say that for many years I feared a specific kind of grief. Grief and fear, in my mind, walked hand in hand, and I often had fluttering in my stomach and hard swallowing when I imagined the loss of one or both of my parents.
Many of you reading this post, have experienced the loss of one or both of your parents, and you were more acquainted with this grief than my family was. My brothers and I experienced the passing of our dear Dad two weeks ago today, and we are quite older to have experienced the death of a parent for the very first time.
However, as a young girl, I would imagine what losing a parent might feel like and I very much feared that. I feared the pain of grief and what life would be like without my Mom or Dad in it. I prayed to God to not take my parents until I was 30 years old, because maybe there was something magical about being 30 that would empower me to handle the loss much better than at 10 years of age.
Many decades after my first decade of life, I finally experienced the grief of “losing” my 97 year old Dad and I can now say, I feared it needlessly. Because my Dad at 82 years of age surrendered his life to the Lord Jesus Christ and accepted His free gift of eternal life, I didn’t lose my Dad.
“8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
I did not lose my Dad two weeks ago. My dad slipped into eternity and one day I will see him again.
“13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.”
(I Thessalonians 4:13-14)
While this assurance brings an amazing joy, there is something else that, for me, is even more amazing. The grace and peace that the Lord gives, just when needed, is truly amazing. We sing and speak of “amazing grace”, but I can now give testimony that I have experienced the Lord’s grace and peace in ways I have never experienced them before in my life. For sure, my family and I have our moments of shedding tears and of missing Dad greatly, but we truly are not grieving in the way I had feared as a ten-year-old girl.
“fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” (Isaiah 41:10)
Many friends and family who had experienced the loss of a parent or loved one, would often tell me that when it would be my “turn”, God will grant grace and peace to handle the grief of the passing of my parents. They were preparing and comforting me with the comfort they experienced.
And today, on the two week marker of my Dad’s stepping on heaven’s shore, I want to pass that comfort on to whomever needs to be encouraged. Grief is painful, but it does not need to be feared. God grants grace upon grace!
“9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
(I Corinthians 12:9)