Today I want to focus our attention on one of
the most misused verses of the Bible.
When a terrible tragedy happens, many
Christians pull out this verse in the hope it will bring comfort to the
griever:
“And we know that in all things God works for the good of
those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans
8:28).
Long before we attempt to comfort the parent that God will
bring some good out of the murder of their child by a drunk driver, we need to
simply sit with the grieving parent bringing comfort not with words but our
presence.
I lay on the floor of an Emergency Room with a husband as
pounds the floor over the death of his wife of 45 years from a heart attack.
Not a word is spoken.
As I have been with grieving people over the past 40 years, I
have learned that in time a new perspective may come to the griever. Some
people will talk about how the tragedies of their lives have brought about
changes in their lives which they would never had experiences except in the
ocean of grief. Some will even say they would call these changes “good.” Each
of these grief travellers found this “good” on their own not because someone
quoted this verse to them.
Ronald Friesen © 2015
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