Coping with death and understanding God's sovereignty

Death is morbid. We all die one day. Some will die by old age, some defeated by terminal illness, some in an accident, and some others take their own life. When our physical bodies stop working and return to dust, the world does not stop. The loved ones of the deceased mourn their death, if there are loved ones around. Coping with the death of a loved one is abstract and hard, and has probably been discussed and recorded countless times by people throughout human history. We read it in the bible, the news and hear from people we know. 

I have to say, even knowing that God is sovereign, death is not easy to cope with emotionally. Emotions are real and God-given, built into us so that we can express ourselves properly. In John 11, we read of the death of Lazarus. In that episode, Jesus wept because Lazarus was a person he loved, and Jesus trusted wholly in his Father's sovereignty even over death. Christians, who have received Christ as their Lord and Saviour, are promised of an eternal life beyond physical death. The penalty of sin is death (both physical and spiritual, the latter means to be cut off from God), and we all will die because we are all sinners. Jesus paid the penalty for sin by dying on the cross, so that we may be reconciled with God. And Jesus is the only way to be with God in his heavenly home. 

We all have to face death one day, and to cope with the death of loved ones. I cried hard when my grandfather passed away a few years back, not doubting God's sovereignty, but that he has not received Christ and acknowledging that I will not see him in heaven. A text from a friend today saying that she met with a near-fatal accident brought me to my knees and to the brink of tears, not that she has not received Christ, but the very thought of having to lose a close friend so dear to me is painful, even when I know that God is truly sovereign. Trusting in God's sovereignty even over death and being emotional about death are two concepts that can be perfectly reconciled, because of the very fact that God is sovereign and in control. We are under his reign. Thank You, God, for preserving her and her family to continue to do your works, till the day you have planned at the beginning of time to call them back home to be with you. May Your sovereign will be done, and I just could not thank You enough for Jesus Christ and His death, so that we can enjoy eternal life in You.