Gifts of Grief, and Faithful Fellowship (Genesis 23:1-2)
“Sarah lived one hundred and twenty seven years; these were the years of the life of Sarah. So Sarah died in Kirjath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan, and Abraham came to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.”
Genesis 23:1-2
Just a short while ago Abraham received back his son from the altar, now he was saying goodbye to his bride. So we see the same in our lives. Sometimes we’re receiving blessings from God, and then the difficult moments of having to let go arrive. Death and loss are always subjects of difficulty for everyone; we see that even Abraham, a spiritual giant of a man, wept for his wife. Grief is okay, it actually helps us to release that which is going on in our heads and hearts before the Lord, and when done properly it allows the Lord the opportunity to clarify and console.
It’s said the reason why God created the tear ducts and tear reflex was to keep the eye lubricated and cleansed of any particles that might harm the eye’s surface or impede on the eye’s ability to see. In the same way God has given us the gift of grief to work the spiritual cleansing of the hearts interior as tears cleanse the eye. As we tell God how we feel, the Lord begins to comfort and reply with His faithful and gentle cleansing of the particles that irritate the peace of our hearts and heads, keeping us from seeing clearly His character.
After one hundred and twenty seven years of life Sarah had now died in Hebron, which literally translated means “fellowship”, this is so fitting being that most of Sarah’s life was spent in fellowship with her husband. Sarah and Abraham’s relationship is an awesome example to us of commitment, love, faithfulness, and honor to each other and the Lord. We often think of Abraham as the Godly example being dubbed things like, “Father of the faith” or “the friend of God”, however, we see Sarah gets a mention when Paul likened her to grace while Hagar was likened unto the Law. Then Peter mentioned her as the example of what a woman of God should be (1 Peter 3:5, 6).
Yeah, they both made mistakes, hit some bumps together, but the wonderful thing was their willingness to accept correction from the Lord, admit their wrongs, and stay committed to the Lord as He led them on to be ‘A Man’ and ‘A Woman’ of God.