Dear Hope family,

Thought for the Week

The Inevitable

Psalm 23v4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for you are with me.”

Death is hard. Without revelation from God we do not know what lies beyond. The hard statistic is that death happens to us all: we can make efforts to postpone it, but we cannot cancel it. The hard reality is that we lose our nearest and dearest, and are left with such a hole in our lives. The hard process is that it is often humiliating and uncomfortable.

However, as followers of Christ, we know he has gone before us through death into the resurrection. He the loss of friends and family and suffered terribly in his own death. We know that while the statistic and reality remain, the fear and unknown are dealt with.  “Neither death nor life … nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God, that is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 8v38-39). Death is not the end, but a translation from one realm to another. As a believer, saved by Christ, we move from this world into the presence of God: “Today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23v43)

The Psalmist wrote this before the day of Jesus. How much more now, do these words ring true. Even in the very worst that life or death can throw at me, Jesus, my shepherd, is with me.

May you be filled with a complete assurance of the presence of Jesus Christ in all you face.

With love and blessing,

Roland