Day 188 - The Why of Death

365 daily emails to help you through the grieving process Grief support groups: Click here to find a GriefShare group near you. If you would like to find a group for a friend or relative, try our Search Page. Want to read ahead or resend a previous daily email? Click Here The Why of Death Day 188 Right now you might not be feeling very close to God. You might be thinking, Where is God? Does God really care? How could He let this happen? What does my future hold? Dr. Robert Jeffress shares the response of a man who lost three of his seven children through horrible deaths to leukemia: "When somebody asks him, 'How could you keep believing in a God who would allow you and your children to experience such a tragedy?', this is what he says, 'In those kind of experiences you have two choices: You can either give up or you can keep believing in God even when it doesn't make sense. Faith means something when it's exercised in the darkness.'" Dr. Jeffress adds his own insight: "I believe that faith means something when you don't understand the whys. I don't think God ever condemns you for asking why. But in the ultimate analysis, the question is not why but it is Who? God calls on you to believe in Him who said, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me. I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live again' [John 14:6, 11:25]. Ultimately you must trust in that." Lord God, I have so many questions and doubts and feelings of guilt and blame. Where do I go from here? Lead me in Your way, truth, and life. Amen. Grieving with Hope This GriefShare-based book contains short, topical chapters addressing issues that grieving people face but are often hesitant to mention to others; it gently guides people to determine whether they're grieving in a way that leads to hope and ultimate healing. Look for Grieving with Hope by Samuel Hodges and Kathy Leonard at a local or online bookstore or at griefshare.org/hope. If you would like to recommend these daily emails to a friend, please click here and choose one of the options under Share. For more information about GriefShare, including how to sign up for these daily emails, please click here. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Copyright © 2003-2013 by The Church Initiative, Inc., All rights reserved. No part of this material may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without explicit permission in writing from Church Initiative. You subscribed to this daily email through www.griefshare.org. We value your privacy! We will never give, sell, rent, or otherwise share your email or personal information with any other organization — EVER. To remove this email address from further mailings Click Here while connected to the internet. If you have any problems or concerns, please contact dailyemailsupport@griefshare.org. GriefShare 250 S. Allen Rd. Wake Forest, NC 27587 (800) 395-5755