Do You Have Questions Left Unanswered?
Not knowing often makes life more difficult. We seek the answers to our questions about life, questions about loss, disaster, misfortune, or illness. Finding the answers may help us process life’s challenges, sorrow, and pain. Sometimes the answers can result in comfort and joy.
Sometimes we never find the answers.
In the wake of disaster and loss we may ask:
§ Who was involved?
§ What happened?
§ When did it take place?
§ Where did it take place?
§ Why did this happen?
§ How did this happen?
Probably the “why” is the most difficult to answer and may totally elude us.
The deep sorrow associated with the death of a loved one is a common experience to most of us. We may handle our journey through grief in different ways, depending on who we are, our relationship to the person who dies, or how it happens. Even when we believe that the person is in a “better place,” we miss them. Even when we know the what, when, where, and how, we may still ask why. However, because physical death is the end of physical life, I believe we obtain a certain amount of closure over time as we accept that person’s absence.
Imagine if your parent, or spouse, or sibling, or friend just disappeared in a matter of minutes. On Easter Sunday, April 3, 1994, Heidi Allen was abducted from the convenience store where she worked. Although people have been held responsible for her kidnapping, Heidi has never been found. Where’s Heidi? One Sister’s Journey is Lisa Buske’s story about her sister and the aftermath of her disappearance. It is a very personal, moving story, from the heart of a sister who has never had all the questions answered. And maybe never will. In the Afterward she wrote,
“Will this be the day Heidi is found? There is never closure, as some seem to believe, as it relates to a missing person’s case. Closure means something is over; our journey will never be over. We simply transition to the next phase.” (p. 273)
Lisa’s faith in Jesus Christ allows her to share her story without answers with hope, and she has been able to reach out to others in need of that hope.
We may not find answers to our questions, but we can find hope in Christ.
2 Corinthians 1:3,4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we are comforted by God.”
We see many images of the devastation in the Bahamas left behind by Hurricane Dorian. I can’t imagine the sense of loss experienced by the residents as they view their homes and communities lying in ruins. I think they can only cling to hope, hope of recue, hope that they can one day rebuild their houses, hope that one day their lives can become normal. For some, their faith in Jesus Christ will carry them through. They know that even in times of physical loss, they are cared for spiritually. They believe He will provide what they need, even though the “why” of the disaster is never revealed. It is often only through suffering and loss that we can truly appreciate what we have.
In the spiritual realm, Jesus Christ came to seek and save everyone who is lost in the darkness of sin. He searches for each person like a shepherd searches for his lost sheep and rejoices when He finds it (Luke 15:4-6). Have you allowed Him to find you?
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