Death is an inevitable part of human life. It may be one of the most painful and difficult experiences someone will have to go through.
However, the Bible gives us a different hope. Found at Acts 24:15 is the promise, “There is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.”
This hope took on a more personal meaning to me about a year ago. My cousin, Leah, passed away from a brain tumor.
The night of her death, my brother, Leah’s sister and I sat playing cards in the hospital waiting room. Unexpectedly, my uncle came rushing in to get his other daughter. Although he didn’t say anything, his tears told us the horrific news.
The walk down the hallway to where she lay was torture. I walked alone, my knees shaking and heart pounding.
It all seemed so unreal, I didn’t want to believe that I could lose her. I reached her room and looked at Leah, so helpless and weak.
The next few minutes seemed like forever. We all stood around her sobbing, begging for her to respond. My uncle stood closest to Leah, his tears running down her face as he pleaded with her to pull through.
Finally the voice of her surgeon stopped us, and we stood around the bed, silent and powerless.
I recall the day after her death my family had a short meeting with the doctors who performed her final surgery. They told us that our life was going to have to go back to normal, and daily activities would resume as usual.
How could life be the same? After watching my cousin die right in front of me, not having her with me anymore, life couldn’t go back to normal. It took some time for me to contemplate what life would be like without her.
During the next few months, and still now, I ponder over scriptures like Acts 24:15 that helped me through this grim situation. Another that I have found beneficial can be found at Isaiah 41:13. “For I, Jehovah your God, am grasping your right hand, The One saying to you, ‘Do not be afraid. I will help you.’”
By turning to God in prayer, He Himself gives us the promise that He will help us through the struggles we face. He also gives us the grand assurance that we have a chance to see our dead loved ones again.