One day while listening to KTIS 900 AM

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

It started off with a simple post from a friend who helps moderate his radio program. Simple words. "Pray for the Austin Hill show, minus Austin." Not sure what that meant I thought he must have taken a vacation and my friend was doing the show solo.

Then, later that afternoon my wife out of the blue asked if I knew that Austin Hill died? I said no and then I saw the connecting dots.  My wife listens to Austin Hill every week on her drive time to work. I decided to do some research and discovered that Austin was only 51 years old, had a wife and a 16-year-old son.  My son said there was profound sadness on the University of Northwestern St. Paul campus as word spread about his death.

Life starts off like a smooth running machine with not a care in the world until, that is, we hear about the death of a friend. When we receive such news it is as though we just got punched in the gut. It stings. We hurt emotionally and physically. The smooth running machine now comes to a screeching halt. We search through the manuals in hopes of finding what we need to get it operating again. Some  try to bury the emotional pain in their metal boxes with-in, while others process that pain by talking and sharing it with other willing listeners.

The ones in the former group may try to bury their pain in alcohol, drugs or long hours at work which only leads to the undercurrent of cancer  growing cells which only leads to more grief.

Every time I hear about the death of a younger person I am reminded how fragile life is for all of us. I am  reminded that Jesus Christ ended this painful sorrow the moment he ascended to heaven exclaiming to all  that "I have gone to prepare a place for you". Because of what Jesus did on the cross death has lost its sting. Sure we hurt when someone we know dies, but God assures us in his word, in our dreams, and in the sermon messages that our loved one  has finished the course, has won the good fight and is in the presence of our Lord.

 Meanwhile, the mission for the rest of us is to share the message of hope to people by sharing how  life changed the moment you received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of your life.

 Our pain is meant to be shared and when our pain is placed into the context of what Jesus has done for us, others will breathe a sigh of relief and come to Christ.

The next time a friend dies lean into your pain and ask God to give you the boldness to share that pain so others may find the living Savior.

  While Austin is experiencing the beauty of heaven we still have a mission  to share God's love with as many people as we encounter; until that is we breathe our last breath and find ourselves in the very presence of the beauty of heaven.