The Gift of Losses and Limits

Date
April 26, 2020
Speaker
Mark Meredith
Topic
Hope
Series
Sharing Loss, Sharing Hope
Book
Psalms

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To be human is to suffer loss. To live life is to live with limits. That is the stark truth. We know it’s true when we think about it, but we live in denial of it much of the time. Hey, it’s OK to not be OK. We are all experiencing some kind of loss right now, and we all have limits on what we can do. The good thing is that when we recognize our loss, and accept our limits, it frees us up to long for hope, “which does not disappoint us, because God has poured his love out into our hearts.” Romans 5:5

Psalm 13

¹ How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
² How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?

³ Look on me and answer, Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
⁴ and my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,” and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

⁵ But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.
⁶ I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.

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Resources in this Series

Walk On: Life, Loss, Trust, and Other Realities, John Goldingay. Written by an Old Testament seminary professor, this is a personal account of how he walks through his wife’s severe disability with the truth of the Old Testament. It is a testimony to hope in the midst of suffering.
Scarred by Struggle, Transformed by Hope, Joan D. Chittister. The author, using the story of Jacob wrestling with God, alternates chapters between struggle and hope. This can be read as a devotional.
Lament for a Son, Nicholas Walterstorff. A very moving reflection on the loss of his 25-year-old son in a climbing accident.
Walking with God through Pain and Suffering, Timothy Keller. Deals very thoughtfully with the questions that are common to all who suffer. It includes good life-story illustrations.
A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows through Loss, Gerald Sittser. The author lost his mother, wife, and daughter in a single car accident. A very thoughtful reflection on grief.
www.grief.com, very helpful and comprehensive website, has great resources, including things to say and not say to a grieving person. (Not from a faith perspective.)
GriefShare, a Christian support group we offer at PLCC.