Whether you call yourself a “Muslim” or a “Christian,” what do you do when someone or something that you love. . .dies?
When they (or it) is taken from you.
A person.
A position.
A relationship.
A reputation.
A dream.
This afternoon I sat at my computer and cried. It is a long story but unless God works a miracle – and He certainly can – something has been taken from me and I can never get it back. It is a deep loss.
How about you?
What do you do when you suffer a loss?
When someone – or something – is taken from you?
Where do you turn?
Where do you put your hope?
So many human emotions assault us after a painful loss. They are natural. They are normal.
But at some point – even when enveloped in pain – there is something we can do that lets God know. . .
that we love Him in the midst of it all;
that we trust Him even when we can’t see Him or feel His presence;
that our hope is in Him. . .alone.
We can do what a man did when he found out that all four of his daughters died in a tragic accident at sea. The man was Horatio Spafford. He later traveled to that place in the Atlantic Ocean where he and his wife suffered such loss. There he wrote one of the most amazing songs I have ever heard:
“It Is Well With My Soul.”
It was his declaration – by faith I am sure – that he would trust and put his hope in a good God. That he would worship God – even in the depths of his great grief.
Please watch the music video below: “My Hope Is In You.”
It is about another couple who suffered one the greatest losses possible. It is about the song another father sang in the midst of the suffering he and his wife experienced. The song? “It Is Well With My Soul” by Horatio Spafford.
What do you do when someone – or something – that you love so greatly, so deeply. . .dies?
When someone – or something – that is so valuable to you. . .is taken from you?
Let us determine that we will turn to God.
Let us put our whole hope in Him.
Let us trust Him.
Let us worship Him.
He is worthy of it.
“In you, Lord my God, I put my trust. . .I trust in you. . .and my hope is in you all day long” (the prophet Dawud – David – in the Zabur, the book of Psalms, chapter 25, verses 1, 2, 5).
“And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you” (the prophet Dawud – David – in the Zabur, the book of Psalms, chapter 39, verse 7).
“Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un”—this is a phrase Muslims recite when there is death or tragedy, it means…”to God we belong and to him is our return”.
it is part of sura 2 verse 156
This is how the Quran explains our lives…..
155. Be sure we shall test you with something of fear. of hunger, some loss in goods, lives and the fuits (of your toil), But give glad tidings to those who patiently perservere,-
156. who say, when afflicted with calamity: “To God we belong and to hims is our return”:-
157. They are those on whom (Descend) blessings from their Lord, and Mercy, and they are the ones that receive guidance.
May you also receive his blessings and mercy.
My Muslim friend,
I like what you have shared from the Quran. It reminds me of the story of Job in the Bible. He lost so much when Satan was allowed by God to bring calamity into Job’s life – even the death of his sons and daughters! When he heard that they had been killed in some kind of natural disaster, this is what he did and said (the book of Job, chapter 1, verses 20-22):
“At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.’ In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.”