Confused and Broken, But Not Without Hope
Despite the confusion, though, there is one thing Carol is not confused about, and that is what she and her family will do: Run to God.
“In our extreme confusion and brokenness, we will run to God,” Carol said. “We will not run away, we will not shake our fist at God…He wants to comfort us. For some of those questions there will never be answers. But we’re going to be ok with that because we trust God. This is the difference between the feeling and the knowing.”
Carol described the feelings she experienced when her husband, David, passed away in 2015. She said her heart felt as if it were broken in many, many pieces. She described feeling as if it would never be whole again. But in the face of this tragedy, she knows it will. “I don’t know when, I don’t know how, but I know God is going to fill the brokenness…because life is hard and sometimes life is sad and sometimes life makes no sense.”
Carol concluded her speech by encouraging those present to invite God into whatever brokenness, whatever confusion, whatever pain they are dealing with at the moment. “Bring God into your here and now no matter what it is,” she said.
You can listen to her powerful words in the video below (1:42-1:55)
Andrew Stoecklein was born May 19, 1988 and died August 25, 2018. He was the lead pastor of Inland Hills Church in Chino, California. He leaves behind a family who still loves him dearly, including his wife and three small sons.
As Andrew would likely say, please don’t grieve as someone without hope. There is always hope for those who believe in Christ Jesus. As Carol so eloquently said, “Heaven is where perfect is.” And the hope we have is that one day, we’ll get to see it.
