Come Lord Jesus, come

        We have all suffered an unimaginable loss.  Our dear friends' precious child--their beloved Wynn--has gone to heaven, and we all hurt and ache deeply, profoundly. We ache for the earthly loss of this priceless, wondrous girl who was truly a shimmering light in this dark world. We ache for our dear friends whose loss we simply cannot begin to fathom.  We ache for the sorrow, separation, and pain in this world that was caused so long ago by the bitter poison of sin.
        "Oh come, Lord Jesus, come," we cry out.  We cannot bear it.  Our friends cannot bear this burden alone.
         And yet, they are not alone.  You have given us to them--we, their friends, we, the Body of Christ, to be Your tear-wiping hands, Your servant feet, Your loving, compassionate heart.  Help us, Lord.  Show us how we can love, how we can help, how we can weep with those who weep, strengthen those with feeble arms and weak knees, and pour Your healing balm on those with broken hearts and wounded souls.  Help us be You incarnated as loving, caring friends.  Enable us to be Jesus with skin on to these ones we love so dearly.
          Please allow us somehow, someway, to help bear their burden. Oh Father, if only we could shoulder some of that pain.  Let me, let us, carry it for them, for at least a while.
         We know that You, only You--who knows the infinite loss of Your beloved Son--can truly understand the depth of their anguish.  Only You can be the love, the grace, the strength, the peace that they need.  Only You can be their light in this darkness and their peace in this chaos.  But help us to be instruments of all that You are and all that You give.
        "We don't know what to do, but our eyes are upon You." (2 Chron.20:12)
         Please come Lord Jesus, come.
         We're all struggling so deeply with this--"Why, Lord, why?" we cry out.  Yet thank You, Jesus, that You can handle all our doubts and fears, all our accusations and frustrations with why You--who are all good, all loving, and all powerful--would allow this. Thank You, tender but strong Lion of Judah, that we can express our every emotion to You...and You hear.  You grieve with us.  And You love us as our loving, perfect Father, our Abba.
          Help us to trust even when we cannot see, to have faith that overcomes our fears, and to believe in Your promises despite our wounded feelings.
         You know what it is to lose a priceless, cherished child--Your Son.  Your only beloved Son. Only You didn't lose Him...You gave Him.  You sacrificed Your one and only Son that we might have life.  Abundant, eternal life. Jesus was forsaken on the cross by His Heavenly Father that we might never, ever be forsaken. Such love, such sacrifice, we cannot understand or imagine.  But this we know: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)
         That kind of limitless love, that kind of scandalous grace we cannot begin to comprehend.  But when we look to the cross, we see Your love incarnate...Your love not just displayed, but demonstrated and experienced. We see a love so deep and divine, so unfathomable that that Love--whose name is Jesus--would suffer and die for our sins, for our fears, for our doubts, for our failures, for our weaknesses.
          You died that we might live.  And because You live, Wynn lives.  And because Wynn lives, we know, know, know that we will see that beautiful, brilliant, winsome, precious, loving beloved daughter of the King of kings again.  Fully healed...and radiant...and glorious.  In the midst of our terrible pain and sorrow, we can still say thank You, Jesus, thank You.
           And so even as we grieve deeply, help us to keep our eyes fixed on You, the author and perfecter of our faith, as we run the race You have set before each of us.(Heb.12:1-2) Wynn has finished her race triumphantly, and we praise and thank You for her, for her beautiful life, and for her family.  Equip and help us, Father, to love and encourage her family, our greatly loved friends. Love them with Your perfect love, Jesus our Good Shepherd, and give them the peace that passes all understanding that only You can give.  And fill us Holy Spirit that we might be Your healing balm, Your wisdom, Your compassion, Your tenderness, Your hope, Your light in this world.
           Come Lord Jesus, come. To You be the glory.