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This is not the end

 

This week I lost a friend from cancer. She was only 47 years old, with a loving husband and three great sons in their twenties. How do you comfort someone when it is such a tragedy? My friend however was strong in faith as is her husband.

I was sitting beside her bed last week when she was unconscious with my hand on her shoulder. I had been talking to her and reading scripture when her husband came and settled himself on the other side of the bed and talked about his faith. I was amazed at how strong it was and he said that even in this incredibly hard time he knew that without this testing, his faith would not have developed the way it had. The Bible tells us we will have trouble in the world; it never promises that life will be easy and smooth if we believe. In fact if you look at the Bible heroes the opposite is true. But the good news is that Jesus brings us everlasting hope. He tell us, ‘take courage! I have overcome the world.’ It is only through having a relationship with Jesus that we can have that peace that ‘surpasses all understanding to guard our hearts and minds in Jesus Christ.’ Tough things happen in this world. Viruses sweep the globe, war and atrocities happen between countries, sin and evil abound, people get sick, people get killed in accidents—yet peace is promised to us if we believe in Jesus. Sorrow and death are inevitable, but those who choose to accept Jesus as their saviour have the ultimate victory.

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