Death is Defeated

I’m gonna sing, in the middle of the storm
Louder and louder, you’re gonna hear my praises roar
Up from the ashes, hope will arise
Death is defeated, the King is alive!”

“Raise a Hallelujah” by Bethel Music

Anyone heard this song at church or on the radio recently? (If not, click on the link-it’s worth an extra 5 minutes of your time, promise!)

I’m a very visual person, and sometimes while singing worship songs the lyrics come to life as the words become beautiful scenes in my mind.

A Song in Pictures

When I sing the chorus, I picture in my head someone standing on a boat with her hands raised and praising God, while a dark, powerful storm rages around her. The winds and clouds encircle her, but her worship is not interrupted. She’s having a beautiful moment with God and no storm is going to stop it.

And then when I sing the next verse, “up from the ashes, hope will arise,” I picture this heap of black and gray smoldering ashes. And then suddenly this beacon of light erupts from the middle of it. The hope-light is orange and yellow and stands in stark contrast to the dark ashes.

Oh but that last line. It gets me every time.

Death is defeated, the King is alive.”

Every time I sing that line I picture my daughter in heaven Hannah Grace. This line is a proclamation of the ultimate hope that we have through Christ. I can’t help but declare it loudly, boldly, and usually while stomping or jumping up and down. I’m completely overcome with emotion, hope, and joy.

Grieving while Praising

I miss my baby girl every single day. I grieve her loss and the fact that she is not here with us. Some days I’m able to softly smile thinking of her. Other days I fight back tears as I look at her pictures or try to remember what it felt like to hold her in my arms.

But I do not grieve as one who has no hope. No!

My hope is in the King who is alive. The King who died a brutal death, stayed buried for 3 days, and rose again victoriously, conquering the grave and sin and death forever and ever.

I’ve had several friends lose loved ones recently. Maybe you have, too. For you, it could have been 2 weeks ago or 20 years ago. I don’t know.

What I do know is that for those in Christ, the truth that death is defeated because Jesus is alive is the reason we can sing in the middle of the storm and why from the ashes hope can arise.

Those moments of grieving the impending loss of our baby after her fatal diagnosis and those days and weeks after her death were filled with weeping, sorrow, and pain.

I had hope in my ultimate Hope, but I still grieved.

I learned through my grief journey, though, that the goal isn’t to not grieve but rather to be reminded in our deepest sorrow that death has been defeated by our King Jesus.

My husband recently wrote about this very thing on his blog about the victory we have over death because of the power of Christ. I highly encourage you to check it out here. He speaks about how in our darkest moments, the Lord was present and gave us hope in His victory over death.

The Lord still sweetly meets me in those dark moments like he did 2.5 years ago. He reminds me that he is with me walking me through my grief, comforting my sorrows, and providing HOPE that she is alive and I will see her again.

Do you need that kind of hope today?

If so, I pray today that the Lord would impress his Hope on your heart today and that hope will arise from the ashes of your sorrow and pain.

Pressing on in faith and hope, Jennifer