The little pink sponge - Where is God in death?

One day I was at my grandfather's house and I saw something that sunk my heart.
It was a small, pink little sponge.
My family is no stranger to the small, little pink sponge.

In case you are completely lost and confused right now, I will explain the purpose of the little pink sponge.

My grandmother was dying. On days when she couldn't drink, we used that small little pink sponge. We dipped it in water and rubbed it inside the corners of her mouth.
It kept her hydrated.
It gave her water when she was too weak to drink.

Everytime I think about that little pink sponge, my heart gives way to sadness and I find myself wanting to cry.

Often we wonder, "Where is God in death?" "Where is God in dry mouths and sickbeds and little pink sponges on a stick, designed for the weak that are too sick to sip water from a cup?
I'll tell you.

He is in the hand that lovingly dips the sponge into water and erases the dribble off chins.
He is in the hand that caresses and the words that soothe.
He is there is the suffering, in the hurt..the darkness
He is the light that, although imperceptible, still shines with the promise there is more than this present suffering. There is promise of something much, much greater.

God is in the lives of those rebuilding.. He is in the honor over lives lived and love unconditionally displayed..
He is in the people whose cars pull over to  the side of the road when the funeral procession passes as a sign of respect.. not in those who honk thier horns and rush past..but in those who realize that loving is bowing down low.
He is in the words of comfort and solace and He is in even in the tears.
Tears prove that we are human and that we need Him. Tears only prove that hearts can be soft and contrite..
If there is any good that comes from brokeness, it is this..

"Brokenness breaks us from our need to be "right" and breaks us open to our need to extend the grace we have been given."..Ann Voskamp

and... That is where God is in death.

I want to share something from Corrie ten Boom..In one of her books, she talks about her visit to a polio ward. The truth is that she did not want to visit. She was afraid and deeply saddened..but she felt the voice of The Master urging her go despite what she was feeling. She said she went to one man in particular and told him about Jesus. She held up an embroidery.. Here is what she said, "When I see you on this bed, I think of this embroidery. "Your life is like this..See how dark it is. See how the threads are knotted and tangled, mixed up. But when you turn it around you can see that God is actually weaving a crown for your life. God has a plan for your life, and He is working it out in beatuy.."

The man she spoke to, couldn't speak, but he picked up his pencil and wrote in very scrawed handwriting.. "Thanks, God. I am already seeing the beautiful side. "

She then writes, "God has a divine pattern for each of His children. Although the threads may seem knotted, on the other side is a crown."


The man died a few days later, but he died with joy. Death is not the end of life.


For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. - John 3:16