Life Shared Separately

     Are you living apart from a loved one? The cause for separation can be as simple as moving to another state. Some of our separations are not our choice. My aunt is trying to imagine life without her husband of 72 years. Right now, it seems impossible for her to imagine life lived without her long loved and treasured spouse, now in heaven.

     Others have lost children to addictions or even death. There are broken relationships between couples and within families that cause grief and loss. What do we do when we live apart from those we love?

     There are no easy answers and each person’s grief is unique. Grief needs to be walked through and deeply experienced. When we close ourselves off to our true grief, it always comes back to harm us.

     Jesus finds hope in any situation. His words offer us compassion, kindness, graciousness and peace. Our prayers go right to His heart and He is there to heal any wound. With Him, any separation is temporary and as the apostle Paul reminds us, we do grieve. BUT we grieve with hope.

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as the rest who have no hope. 1 Thessalonians 4:13

In all this you greatly rejoice, though now, for a little while, you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 1 Peter 1:6

     Hope is powerful and eternal.  Notice the words in the verse above from Peter, “for a little while.”  The Bible continually reminds us of the brevity of life, comparing our lives to a wisp, a vapor, like the grass that withers away. Here are my life verses.  You will notice that God mentions our troubles on this earth as “light and momentary” when compared to eternity.  It certainly doesn’t feel like that when we suffer.

     But in a little while, in a moment of time, we will be healed eternally, never to die, in paradise with Jesus!

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. For what is seen is temporary and what is unseen in eternal.  2 Corinthians 4:16-18

     I pray for many of you and grieve as I see and hear of your suffering. God’s hope is there, eternally present.  Fix your eyes above.  Fix your eyes on what is unseen. Fix your eyes on Jesus.  Amen