A Time To Mourn

© Amy Nielsen

'He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.' Psalm 147:3

Our dear friend and beloved Christian brother, Chin Leng, died in the early morning hours of 15 Nov 2023. He fought a long, arduous and heroic battle with pancreatic cancer. He died peacefully, his young wife and daughter by his side. He fought courageously against the cancer, inspiring many others by the strength of his faith, the stamina of his body and the fortitude of his mind. 

Chin Leng recorded a personal testimony from his hospital room of how he came to know Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour. In his cachexic state, he presented the gospel and urged the hearers to receive Jesus Christ. He exuded a confidence in God who comforts him and Christ, his companion, as he entered the final path of his earthly journey. His testimony is and will be an inspiration to many.

The Lord Jesus Christ is Chin Leng's shepherd.

'The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He makes me to lie down in green pastures;

 He leads me beside the still waters.

 He restores my soul; He leads me in the path of righteousness for His name's sake.

Yea, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil;

For You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.' Psalm 23:1-4 (NKJV)

I tried to comfort the young widow and daughter with these words, "Even though you both will grieve and mourn your loss, yet take heart that the Lord is always by Chin Leng's side and they now spend eternity together. In time all of us will be reunited with Chin Leng for we too share his faith and love of Jesus. May the love of Jesus Christ and the comfort He brings be with you both and give you joy in this time of sorrow."

But no word of comfort will soothe the grief. This is a time to mourn. Jesus said that those who mourn will be blessed.

'Blessed are those mourn, for they shall be comforted.' Matthew 5:5 (NKJV)

In declaring a blessing on mourning, Jesus is saying that grief will be everyone's experience but the blessing that comes with mourning is the blessing of being comforted. That morning when Chin Leng died the verse of the day given me was

'He heals the broken-hearted and bandages their wounds.' Psalm 147:3

• Jesus will heal us. God is saying that mourning is inevitable, it may even take a long time but it is still temporary. It is temporary because the Lord will begin to heal us and tend to our wounds.

'...weeping may last through the night but joy comes with the morning.' Psalms 30:5b (NLT)

• Jesus will carry our burden

'Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.' Matthew 11:28-30

• Jesus will comfort us

 'Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.' 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

• Jesus will stay with us 

'For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.' Romans 8:38-39 

Chin Leng always had hope, the hope of glory. It is because of God's great love for him, as he shared with me recently from his hospital bed

'Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” 

The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. It is good for a man to bear the yoke while he is young. Let him sit alone in silence, for the Lord has laid it on him. Let him bury his face in the dust— there may yet be hope. Let him offer his cheek to one who would strike him, and let him be filled with disgrace.

For no one is cast off by the Lord forever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to anyone.' ‭‭Lamentations‬ ‭3‬:‭22‬-‭33

Though the grieving will last through many nights, yet the morning will break and a new dawn, a new hope will appear. Even 'when the world has plunged me in its deepest pit, I find my Saviour there. 'There is a hope that burns within my heart.' 

There is a hope that burns within my heart,
That gives me strength for every passing day;
A glimpse of glory now revealed in meagre part,
Yet drives all doubt away:
I stand in Christ, with sins forgiven;
And Christ in me, the hope of heaven!
My highest calling and my deepest joy,
To make His will my home.

There is a hope that lifts my weary head,
A consolation strong against despair,
That when the world has plunged me in its deepest pit,
I find the Saviour there!
Through present sufferings, future’s fear,
He whispers ‘courage’ in my ear.
For I am safe in everlasting arms,
And they will lead me home.

There is a hope that stands the test of time,
That lifts my eyes beyond the beckoning grave,
To see the matchless beauty of a day divine
When I behold His face!
When sufferings cease and sorrows die,
And every longing satisfied.
Then joy unspeakable will flood my soul,
For I am truly home.

And so farewell for now, dear friend and brother, Chin Leng. We shall meet again.

Lionel

It Is Well, It Is Well With My Soul

 

'The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord makes His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.' Numbers 6:24-26

The soul is the very basis of our spirituality and humanity, it is running our entire lives. Dallas Willard wrote, 'It is the life-centre of the human being. The soul is like an inner stream, which refreshes, nourishes and gives strength to every other element of our life. When that stream flows properly, we are refreshed and content in all we do, because our soul is rooted in God and His kingdom. We are in harmony with God, reality, the rest of humanity at large.' Ref 1 

Christians always seek this wellness within our souls, our harmony with God. When we are disjointed from God, we will feel insecure. Perhaps we have done something wrong or perhaps wrong was done to us. Perhaps we are very sick or  have lost our jobs or have quarrels with friends and families. At such times we might feel resentful, angry, sad and even pity ourselves. 

The psalmist lamented 'Why my soul are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me?' three times in Psalms 42 and 43 in three circumstances. The psalmist felt

• Abandoned by God (Psalm 42:3)
• Forgotten by God (Psalm 42:9)
• Rejected by God (Psalm 43:2)

These two Psalms described the desolation felt by God's people at the time of their exile.  

Someone else who would ask such a question was Horatio Spafford. Horatio Spafford suffered many calamities in his life. He lost almost all his fortune in the great Chicago fire of 1871. His four year old son died soon after. Hoping that a vacation to the United Kingdom would help his wife and four daughters recover from the tragedy, he sent them off on a trans-Atlantic voyage. However the ship capsized after a collision with another vessel. More than 200 people lost their lives including all four of Horatio's daughters. His wife, Anna, survived and upon reaching England sent a telegram to her husband that began, "Saved Alone. What shall I do?" 

Horatio immediately set sail for England deep in sorrow and heavy-hearted. As Horatio's ship passed the spot where the shipwreck occurred, he thought of his daughters but God comforted him. Somehow he was inspired to write the words of this hymn, It is well with my Soul.

When peace like a river attendeth my way

When trouble like sea billows roll

 Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say 

It is well, it is well with my soul. 

How could a man who suffered such grief write these words? Horatio Spafford is a remarkable man. A lesser man would have wallowed in remorse and pity, even to the point of blaming God for the lost of five children. It must have been a very painful moment to stand gazing at the Atlantic Ocean over the very spot where his four daughters died. But Horatio was not such a man, his Christian faith and belief in God sustained him through this terrible ordeal. Horatio survived with his soul intact, still able to inspire many generations of sufferers through the most severe of challenges and to say that whatever the pain, it is still well with the soul. The same awakening and realisation also dawned on Anna, Horatio's wife. Their lives thereafter became a testimony of unstinting faith and service, and these examples were passed on through many generations. The human spirit can rise above tragedy.

What then is wellness of the soul? It is the right combination of personality, temperament and character in a person that accords self confidence, contentment and peace. It is being at a place of a right relationship with God. A form of godliness with contentment which St Paul advocated to Timothy, 'godliness with contentment is great gain.' 1 Timothy 6:6. The outward manifestations of such a wellness is holiness and happiness.

A 'poetic' description of such a person is found in Psalm 1:3, 'That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yield its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither.' I considered words to describe the characteristics of such a contented person and came up with 

• Godly
• Christlike
• Gentle
• Measured
• Merciful
• Charitable
• Reverent
• Compassionate
• Confident
• Benevolent
• Forgiving
• Gracious

If only some of these words were to describe us, we will be truly blessed. In all circumstances we will have the assurance that God is with us.   

Lionel

Ref 1: Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart, Inter-varsity Press, 2002