By Greg Chandler
Zeeland Record
Hello there! This is the first time you have seen my byline on this page in the Zeeland Record since I became editor nine months ago.
I hope the essays that you see on this page are inspiring to you and strengthen you in your walk with God.
Over the last couple of weeks, I have felt a prompting – I am presuming it’s from the Holy Spirit – to publish my own thoughts on faith in this paper. But what do I write about? Writing coaches and therapists seem to agree that there’s value in writing from your own life experience.
So, here goes.
I have a lot of favorite verses in Scripture, but I think the one that means the most to me is Psalm 34:18: “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (NASB)
That verse particularly hit home for me in November 2017, when my oldest daughter, Lindsay, died by suicide at the age of 24. As you might expect, I went through a lot of struggles around her death.
I asked the questions: Why did it happen? Why didn’t God save her? Was it to punish me for my sin? Was it to punish me because of my failures as a father?
I don’t think God ever answered those questions directly. He just showed up.
He showed up in the form of members of my small group from the church I attend in suburban Grand Rapids, who either came to Lindsay’s visitation, or her memorial service, or in some cases, both.
He showed up in friends of mine coming from as far away as the Detroit area to offer their condolences, their words of comfort and their hugs.
He showed up in a group of my high school friends taking up a collection and sending me a check for $1,800 to help cover Lindsay’s funeral expenses. I was stunned. I didn’t ask for help. A friend of mine who lives 800 miles from me
saw my Facebook post and took it upon herself to ask some of our friends to help me. I am forever grateful to her for being the hands and feet of Jesus at a time when I desperately needed it.
He showed up in a whole bunch of Lindsay’s fellow co-workers from the ambulance service she worked for, showing up in their dress blue shirts the day of her memorial service.
He showed up in the form of some of Lindsay’s Army buddies, who came from as far away as Tennessee for her memorial service.
Nearly eight years later, I still struggle with understanding why this happened. I will likely never get full resolution this side of heaven. But those actions I just described showed me that God is indeed good, even when we don’t understand what is happening.
God promises to walk with us through the darkest valley (Psalm 23:4, NIV). The apostle Paul writes of God as “the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” (1 Corinthians 1:3-4, NIV)
Since Lindsay’s death, I have become friends with many people who have struggled with the loss of a loved one or friend to suicide. I truly believe God has put me in those situations because of my own experience with suicide loss – that I can hopefully show comfort and compassion for people who are going through the worst experience of their lives.
I truly believe Jesus understands the depth of our pain and sorrow when we go through any loss, including suicide loss. If you want proof, consider the shortest verse in the Bible, John 11:35: “Jesus wept.” Jesus wept at the death of his dear friend Lazarus. He cried before he raised Lazarus from the dead.
As I struggle with the loss of my own child, I am reminded that God the Father watched as his only begotten Son hung on a cross to die a criminal’s death – the perfect, sinless Lamb, slain for all our sin, all our rebellion, all of our thinking that we can do a better job of being God than God Almighty.
If you are in a season where you are grieving the loss of a spouse, a parent, a child, a friend, please know this – you do not grieve alone. God is with you. He is near to you. He weeps with you in your heartbreak. And if you give Him your heart, he will restore your crushed spirit.
Peace be with you, from God the Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Zeeland Record
Hello there! This is the first time you have seen my byline on this page in the Zeeland Record since I became editor nine months ago.
I hope the essays that you see on this page are inspiring to you and strengthen you in your walk with God.
Over the last couple of weeks, I have felt a prompting – I am presuming it’s from the Holy Spirit – to publish my own thoughts on faith in this paper. But what do I write about? Writing coaches and therapists seem to agree that there’s value in writing from your own life experience.
So, here goes.
I have a lot of favorite verses in Scripture, but I think the one that means the most to me is Psalm 34:18: “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” (NASB)
That verse particularly hit home for me in November 2017, when my oldest daughter, Lindsay, died by suicide at the age of 24. As you might expect, I went through a lot of struggles around her death.
I asked the questions: Why did it happen? Why didn’t God save her? Was it to punish me for my sin? Was it to punish me because of my failures as a father?
I don’t think God ever answered those questions directly. He just showed up.
He showed up in the form of members of my small group from the church I attend in suburban Grand Rapids, who either came to Lindsay’s visitation, or her memorial service, or in some cases, both.
He showed up in friends of mine coming from as far away as the Detroit area to offer their condolences, their words of comfort and their hugs.
He showed up in a group of my high school friends taking up a collection and sending me a check for $1,800 to help cover Lindsay’s funeral expenses. I was stunned. I didn’t ask for help. A friend of mine who lives 800 miles from me
saw my Facebook post and took it upon herself to ask some of our friends to help me. I am forever grateful to her for being the hands and feet of Jesus at a time when I desperately needed it.
He showed up in a whole bunch of Lindsay’s fellow co-workers from the ambulance service she worked for, showing up in their dress blue shirts the day of her memorial service.
He showed up in the form of some of Lindsay’s Army buddies, who came from as far away as Tennessee for her memorial service.
Nearly eight years later, I still struggle with understanding why this happened. I will likely never get full resolution this side of heaven. But those actions I just described showed me that God is indeed good, even when we don’t understand what is happening.
God promises to walk with us through the darkest valley (Psalm 23:4, NIV). The apostle Paul writes of God as “the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.” (1 Corinthians 1:3-4, NIV)
Since Lindsay’s death, I have become friends with many people who have struggled with the loss of a loved one or friend to suicide. I truly believe God has put me in those situations because of my own experience with suicide loss – that I can hopefully show comfort and compassion for people who are going through the worst experience of their lives.
I truly believe Jesus understands the depth of our pain and sorrow when we go through any loss, including suicide loss. If you want proof, consider the shortest verse in the Bible, John 11:35: “Jesus wept.” Jesus wept at the death of his dear friend Lazarus. He cried before he raised Lazarus from the dead.
As I struggle with the loss of my own child, I am reminded that God the Father watched as his only begotten Son hung on a cross to die a criminal’s death – the perfect, sinless Lamb, slain for all our sin, all our rebellion, all of our thinking that we can do a better job of being God than God Almighty.
If you are in a season where you are grieving the loss of a spouse, a parent, a child, a friend, please know this – you do not grieve alone. God is with you. He is near to you. He weeps with you in your heartbreak. And if you give Him your heart, he will restore your crushed spirit.
Peace be with you, from God the Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
