It hurts when someone we love dies. We feel empty. We know things will never be the same again. Everybody grieves. But Paul says that Christians do not grieve “like the rest of men, who have no hope” (1 Thessalonians 4:13).

In the Bible hoping is not the same as wishing. In the Bible hope is being sure about something for which we have to wait. We know that what we hope for will happen because God has promised it.

When Christians experience the death of someone they love, they also experience hope—hope that when Jesus returns He will bring that loved one with Him. They will be caught up and reunited. They will “be with the Lord forever” (1 Thessalonians 4:17). Nothing will ever again separate them from those they love.