My beloved Dad passed away just a few hours after I arrived from Bangkok. He was already in the ICU. That was two years ago. I still feel the pain of losing him, of not being able to spend lots of time with him before he was gone from this earth. I still cry every time I think or talk about him. God's words bring comfort and assurance to me each time. During his funeral I read the verses from 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 which talk about God comforting us in our grief and His purpose is for us to comfort others with the comfort He gave us. It was indeed true.
Up to this day I know that we could never have gotten through the difficult times of grief without the Lord's presence, the comfort of His words as well as the friendship of His people extended to us. Then as we commemorated Dad's 2nd death anniversary last April, He put me in a situation where I was able extend the comfort I have experienced from Him. I met a dear friend who lost her husband a few months after my Dad passed away. He was also a friend and I remembered him sending me a message of condolence. Anyhow, last April I had an emotional reunion with his widow, a dear sister in the Lord. We had time to talk and share about God's faithfulness all this time, as well as our ups and downs in dealing with life. I thank God that I was able to share with her how He has comforted me and how He helped me to overcome negative emotions and such related to grieving and loss. And we prayed together. In that instance I realized that indeed the experience I had with the Lord and with life can really be use by Him to minister to another who is in need of encouragement, of comfort, of assurance. I just have to be open and willing to give of myself and think more of the other rather than thinking only of my self and my own concerns. I learned that even as we allow ourselves to be used by the Lord to comfort others with the comfort we received from Him, we can also experienced the peeling off of our own sorrow and grief. We can emerge from that experience renewed, with a fresh look at life that is before us.
I will always think of my Dad, will always miss him, will never forget him, but I can move on with life because I know that this is what he would have wanted me to do. Especially to be of help to others and to keep trusting the Lord. That is his legacy.
Up to this day I know that we could never have gotten through the difficult times of grief without the Lord's presence, the comfort of His words as well as the friendship of His people extended to us. Then as we commemorated Dad's 2nd death anniversary last April, He put me in a situation where I was able extend the comfort I have experienced from Him. I met a dear friend who lost her husband a few months after my Dad passed away. He was also a friend and I remembered him sending me a message of condolence. Anyhow, last April I had an emotional reunion with his widow, a dear sister in the Lord. We had time to talk and share about God's faithfulness all this time, as well as our ups and downs in dealing with life. I thank God that I was able to share with her how He has comforted me and how He helped me to overcome negative emotions and such related to grieving and loss. And we prayed together. In that instance I realized that indeed the experience I had with the Lord and with life can really be use by Him to minister to another who is in need of encouragement, of comfort, of assurance. I just have to be open and willing to give of myself and think more of the other rather than thinking only of my self and my own concerns. I learned that even as we allow ourselves to be used by the Lord to comfort others with the comfort we received from Him, we can also experienced the peeling off of our own sorrow and grief. We can emerge from that experience renewed, with a fresh look at life that is before us.
I will always think of my Dad, will always miss him, will never forget him, but I can move on with life because I know that this is what he would have wanted me to do. Especially to be of help to others and to keep trusting the Lord. That is his legacy.
2 Corinthians 1:3-4 | King James Version
3 Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort;
4 Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.
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