Dr. R. A. Torrey, founder of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles, lost his twelve-year-old daughter in an accident. The funeral was on a rainy day. They stood there beside that hole in the ground, surrounded by loved ones. It was dark and dismal. Mrs. Torrey said to her husband, “I’m so glad Elizabeth is not in that box.” Their grief went home with them that night as they tried to sleep.
Dr. Torrey got up in the morning and went for a walk. A wave of grief broke over him, anew, the loneliness of her absence, the terrible feeling knowing they would never hear her laughter again, never see her face, never witness her growth. He couldn’t take it. And he leaned against the street light and he looked up and he began to pray. This is what he experienced: “And just then the fountain, the Holy Spirit, whom I had in my heart, broke forth with such power as I think I had never experienced before. And it was the most joyful moment I had ever known in my life! It is an unspeakably glorious thing to have within you a fountain ever springing up, springing up, springing up, ever springing up 365 days in every year, springing up under all circumstances.”
God cures true grief, especially grief from sin. He brings comfort and peace. Just ask Him.
Blessed are those who mourn,
for they shall be comforted.
Matthew 5: 5