Good Grief

I am not naturally a good griever, if there is such a thing. I am extremely emotional and get far too attached to things in life. I am sentimental. Losing someone is never easy. We become intertwined with others along our path as we walk out the call God has given us. When these people leave our lives, it’s uncomfortable to let go and untwine ourselves. Sometimes it makes sense to us why the person died, while other times, it’s contrary to everything we believed and hoped for.

The solace I have found is from 2 Cor 4 and 5.

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 NIV

The Bible prepares us with the fact that our bodies fail us and waste away. We know that we cannot focus on or hold onto things tied to this earth, such as a person’s bodily presence.

“For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”

2 Corinthians 5:1-5 NIV

“For we live by faith, not by sight.

So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

2 Corinthians 5:7, 16-17 NIV

As Christians and those who love other Christians, we know that we will see our loved ones once again in Heaven. We know that our time on earth is but a blip in our eternity, some blips shorter than others. We existed before we were known on this earth (“”Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…”” Jeremiah 1:5 NIV ) and we will exist after we leave this earth. When a Christian dies it’s really more of a home going than anything. We were all placed here by God on a mission to reach the world. When we die knowing God we get to go home!! How wonderful! Yes, it’s difficult for those of us still on the mission having to do it without our loved one, BUT we are not left alone. We have God’s grace and purpose still working for us and we know that one day, we too, will get to go home. I choose to look on the unseen and live the remainder of my life by faith. I choose to not look at others as I see them and become attached to them in their earthly bodies but to see them as the spirit being they are that is tied to Heaven. In this decision, I can move past the hurt and the void that is left to accomplish the rest of the mission God has given me before I too am called home.