When a loved one dies, you might feel like all is lost.
At these times, it can be especially hard to keep your faith. While you know that God promises life eternal, all you’re thinking about in that moment is how much it hurts to have that person gone for the rest of your earthly life.
God is always here for His people during times of sadness. Instead giving into your grief, it’s important to learn how to channel that sorrow into happiness.
Lauren Daigle, an emerging Christian music singer, recently went through the loss of her beloved grandfather. How she dealt with the experience could be a great tool for others going through similar grievances.
A True Bond
Lauren grew up with her grandfather, meaning that they were very close. In fact, she said they were best friends, calling themselves “partners in crime.”
He was always her number one supporter and completed believed she could make it in the music business. In fact, every time they had visitors over, he would call Lauren down from her room and ask her to sing Adele for the guests. His vision was that she would use the gifts God gave her to excel in life.
In fact, she claims it was because of him that she found the strength to drop out of LSU and move to Nashville to pursue her musical career. After the move, all was going great – she had a record deal lined up and was writing a lot of music.
Then, just five months after moving away, that’s when the bombshell struck – Lauren’s grandfather had cancer.
Making the Right Decision
Lauren had a decision to make. Would she pursue her dream or choose to be with her grandfather when the end came? Because of her love for him, she knew she had to leave right away to be by his side as he passed.
It was only a week later that he passed away.
That was the week that Lauren was supposed to record her first album. Luckily, she was able to postpone the recording to a later date. She knew that she would be unable to produce quality music when in such a state of duress.
Finding Beauty in the Heartbreaking Loss
Lauren had never experienced loss before, so the sudden void left by her grandfather’s passing was almost too much to handle. However, it was the experiences she had sitting by his bedside as he was passing that truly helped her get through it all with a smile on her face.
As she was in the room with her, near the end, he started saying that he saw Jesus standing at his bedside. He also saw his daughter that had passed away and started calling out to her.
For Lauren, this experience was one of the most raw and powerful of her life.
“God made death so real, but so beautiful,” she said in a video documenting her experience. “In the midst of this great sorrow, there was so much joy because I could see the process of my grandfather entering into the gates, into the streets of gold. It made the hope so much more real.”
Lauren says she felt God enter the room and suddenly felt a peace and a closeness she had never felt before.
Use Her Experience During Your Struggles
While you might not be lucky enough to have such an eye-opening experience as Lauren when a loved one is passing away, that doesn’t mean that God still isn’t present.
“You can look at this with incredible sorrow, or you can take this and leverage this,” said Lauren. For her personally, that meant channeling her experiences through her music, which led to the release of her successful album.
It’s important to keep in mind that even though your loved one is gone from you, they are now resting peacefully in the arms of God. While you won’t see them for a while, it won’t be forever. Soon, you too will be there with them.
Use these thoughts to comfort you when you feel your faith wavering. Instead of getting angry or upset, realize that God has a purpose for everything and that everyone’s time on earth must eventually come to an end.
“It’s going to be so beautiful when we die,” said Lauren. “He let me experience a little taste of that while on earth. What a treasure, what a gift.”
~ Christian Patriot Daily
