I want to share a song with you. I experienced this – it was more than just hearing it- when I visited my daughter’s church. The singer-songwriter, Brian Lopiccolo, is the music director at her church. His brother had died just a few months before that visit. So Brian wrote these thoughts in his own grief. I talked with him after listening as he sang this song for the first time publically. He said he wanted to do something that glorified God since his brother’s death. In my heart, Brian accomplished his goal. May your heart be touched and comforted with this too.

When Death is Swallowed in Victory – Brian Lopiccolo

“When Death is swallowed in victory,
We’ll stand in awe at the ending
Of all our brokenness, grief and pain
When Christ returns to redeem us.
And though we die, then shall we live,
for Christ defeated the grave;
When death is swallowed in victory
It’s only then the beginning.

When Death is swallowed in victory
This fallen body will waken
These tried limbs and this broken heart
Will rise to life and perfection.
These hands will build, these feet will run
This voice will sing a new song;
These eyes will look on the risen Lord
When Death is swallowed in vict’ry

Inherit everything,
When death gives up it’s sting
And nothing can keep us from
the life we’ve been destined to live
Oh –the life we’ve been destined to give.

When Death is swallowed in victory
God’s children, all then united
The Saints of hist’ry and those now gone
Will join us then and forever.
And God Himself will be our own,
For we forever are His;
We long for Christ to make all things new
When Death is swallowed in vict’ry.”

What are your favorite lines? Mine are the last 4 – And God Himself will be our own for we forever are His. I am comforted knowing I’m close to His heart and safe there forever.

Blessings to you as you contemplate Christ’s victory over the grave and what that means to you now.

 Check out Brian Lopiccolo’s site.

I spoke with a young man a few days ago. He is feeling guilty about some things. His words were “I feel bad for making life hard for her sometimes.” Buried in there is the worry that something he did caused or contributed to the death of the one he loved – his mom in this case. (Forgiveness is another issue revealed in his concerns but I will deal with that on another occasion.)

So I have been thinking about the story of Jesus and the blind man in John’s gospel, chapter 9. This man has been blind since birth, his parents confirm this. He asked Jesus to heal him and He did. Now the man sees. Somehow this upset the religious “powers that be,” like healing is a bad thing under certain circumstances!  

Anyway, back to the story, some of Jesus’ followers who saw this healing asked Jesus a sort of philosophical question. It’s a form of the “why?” question that so many of us ask. They asked: who sinned. Who offended God that God should put such a challenge in the lives of this man and his family (for certainly when one is battling a serious illness or disabling condition the whole family is affected by the illness). Jesus’ answer was surprising then and is so now too: No one sinned. It’s not about sin and punishment. This man’s blindness has a purpose and that purpose is … let’s let Jesus tell it -“Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” (John 9:3)

The man is a display case for the Lord God Almighty to show others His glory. In this case, the man was healed of blindness and he went on to testify of the healing and healer in front of town’s people and religious leaders. He testified of the facts even though he didn’t really understand the details of how or why. He just told of his experience with Jesus. That is how he displayed God’s glory.

I extrapolate from that that we all are display cases for Him too. Whatever condition you are in – grieving, disabled is some way, old or young, tall or short – you are a display case. You and I can display His love, peace and mercy. And this is true whether or not we are healed of our condition. That is why we were made just the way we are. It happened for God’s glory. 

How can I display His glory? Each of us has specific and unique opportunities to do so. But there are some generalities. We can be patient in the grief recovery period, expecting that God who identifies Himself as Comforter, will comfort us as time passes. We can continue throwing ourselves into His everlasting arms. We can tell the truth, such as: It still hurts a lot, but I know the Lord is present with me. We can share any comfort we have received with another hurting person.    

The loss in my young friend’s life happened and God will get glory in it. The loss in your life, too, can bring Him glory. It is part of the stuff from which the Lord God Almighty, who loves you enough to send His son, intends to build His eternal kingdom here among men. Glory to God.

The first frequently asked question is this: “what kind of God would allow me to suffer this loss?” Let’s examine what kind of God it is we are dealing with:
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? … It is God who justifies. … Christ Jesus…is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Romans 8:32-34.

This is the God who gave up His Son for you. Who continues to justify you (as in court for a guilty suspect). Who is interceding for you even now. Scripture reveals many additional character qualities but I love this the most. I often come back to this truth as a foundation for my life and hope. Romans also says “if God is for us, who can be against us.” (Romans 8:31) This God who has given so much for our benefit is a God who can be trusted with our brokenness, even when things don’t make sense.

Trust -
• That He keeps His promises
• That when He says He is the Comforter, He is that and will actually comfort you
• That He knows your pain and understands
• That He hears your cries
• That He will never leave you
• That He is active in the situation
• That He will bring good for you, as well as good for His Kingdom, out of what you are going through
• That His plans will be fulfilled

I already touched on this theme in an earlier blog but it is such an important point that I wanted to give it more attention. In my life, this is one of 3 or 4 truths that are the unshakable foundation. Because God is for me, nothing can shake or destroy my relationship with the Lord. This is one of the “rocks” on which my “house” is built and the floods can’t knock me down (Matthew 7:24-27). I hope you will make it one of your foundation stones too.