Comfort and Peace

  

“And then the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:7)

 These past few days have been a struggle for my community, especially for our teens. One of the football players from our high school was at the lake this weekend. He and his friends were jumping from the cliffs and something happened when he went into the water because he came up and then quickly went back under and never resurfaced. They still have not found his body. He was popular and a great young man. Not that his life is any more important than the other teens but it does bring more attention to it especially in the media. The death of a young person is so difficult to understand but the fact that they haven’t found his body causes more turmoil. Some are saying that he is dead; leaving no room for the possibility that somehow beyond all reasoning he is alive. And some are grasping onto hope, praying for a miracle. Finding his body would at least make it more real and bring closure to his family and friends.

And then to add to this grief and sorrow, we found out last night that another teen from the high school has died, he committed suicide yesterday. There wasn’t much information about it last night but there was much talk about it on Facebook. My teenage son is hurting, he didn’t know either of these young men personally but he knew one of the siblings and it hits so close to home when it is in your own high school. Andrew knows how fragile life is because he has heard me talk about the tragic deaths of my two brothers when I was young and he has also heard about the deaths of many children over the years with me being a pediatric oncology nurse. For most of his friends this is their first exposure to death.

Dear Lord, I ask that you pour out your wisdom and compassion on the adults of my community so that we may be a source of strength, love and comfort for the families and the teens that have been affected by these tragedies. Let our hope in the promise of eternal life be visible for them and wrap these hurting families in your loving arms and fill their hearts with your peace. Amen.

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has passed away.” (Revelation 21:4)