Thanksgiving – My Extra Oil

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope”. 1 Thessalonians 4: 13 NLT

Everyone has experienced loss at a point in their lives; be it loss of relationships, loss of jobs or careers, loss of marriages or loss of loved ones. A few years ago, I experienced the loss of a loved one. When it happened, I thought it was the end of the world. However, going out days later and seeing it was business as usual for everyone else including a group of people in a queue at their favourite food joint made me realise it wasn’t the end after all.

During the period, I had a dream where a prominent prophet was prophesying to someone that my loved one was still alive somewhere. In the dream, while skeptically watching him say that I wondered how this person could fake her death and be alive somewhere.

As soon as I woke up, a scripture immediately came to mind about the dead in Christ being alive and I realised there was no need to dwell on the pain for the person was indeed now more alive than ever through their faith in the finished work of Jesus on the cross.

Although my grief did not instantly vanish it was the beginning of dealing with it as I acknowledged that eternal glory trumps temporary pain.

No one is perfect in dealing with loss. Nonetheless, there is for believers, that future hope of meeting in heaven. However, we need to acknowledge the undeniably painful truth that in this present life we would never see the departed ones. Jesus himself wept. As such, the pain must be acknowledged while we fix our eyes on what Christ has done for us through the cross.

How? By Keeping Extra oil!

Like the wise virgins in Matthew 25: 1-13, it is important to keep extra oil to remind us of God’s faithfulness exhibited through the cross of Jesus. My extra oil for difficult times is a gratitude journal. Daily, weekly, or monthly whichever rocks your boat, you can write in your gratitude journal, the ‘simple’ things God has done in your life for which you are grateful. You can add some Scriptural promises and the lessons learnt along the way.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You that you are using this situation for Your glory and thank you for giving us the cross of Jesus Christ as Your answer to our pain. Grant us the grace to be grateful for everything you do for us. We ask this In Jesus mighty name.

For extra reading see 1Thessalonians 4:13-18, Matthew 25: 1 – 13

What is your extra oil?