"The Same God Holds Us With Grace"

It has been quiet and meditative here in Munday since “A Glimpse of Glory”. I would like to close out this chapter in the life of Munday, sharing with you a poem written by my favorite Christian poet, Sheila Gosney. I subscribed to her poetry over a year ago and have saved many of them. This particular poem seemed fitting to share as a follow-up to our ‘glimpse of glory’.

Sheila, you didn’t know at the time that you were writing this just for us. God does work in mysterious ways. Thank you for your permission of using your poem in my journal.

The Same God Holds Us With Grace
There are times as Christians when we lose a loved one
who also knew Jesus as Lord.
Death took them on to see the face of their King
and by faith they saw their final reward.
But we wrestle and struggle with the heaviness of grief
and the sorrow that their absence brings.
We wonder if it's normal to feel such a sadness
when they're whole and in the sight of the King.
But the truth of it is..our faith doesn't prevent us
from feeling pain, deep anguish or sorrow.
For we are still human & our hearts still break
when the loneliness wakes us tomorrow.
And our faith is not lessened if we succumb to the grief
but in fact, it can be deepened with time.
For the season of sorrow can teach us of God's comfort
and His wisdom of perfect design.
The grief that we feel can change us for the better
giving a tenderness that does tend to stay.
For whatever salve Jesus puts on our wounds
we learn from..and then give away.
The pain and the sorrow will lessen with time
and more joy will move into its place.
For the same God who welcomed our loved one to glory
wipes our tears and holds us with grace.
© Sheila Gosney 2006

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

2 Corinthians 1:3-7