How fragile we are….
My heart is heavy today for friends and family who have recently buried a loved one…
or are wondering which kiss on the forehead as they leave a hospital bed is the last.
God says that He comforts us in our life-hurts so that we may comfort others.
On my own journey, I was blessed by the comfort and nearness of our Lord as my own mother’s life came to an end.
Over the course of ten days, I watched her body succumb to three massive strokes.
Please know, God’s grace and kindness throughout this process far exceeded any sorrow or suffering. I could (and I hope to) fill a book with how merciful He has been to our family.
So today…
for you who are in the early stages or later stages or lingering stages of grieving…
I want to share the Scripture the Lord blessed me with during my first season of this tender good-bye.
In 2 Corinthians 5:4, Paul speaks of the reality of our earthly bodies decaying. He addresses what it looks like from this side and he gives us, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, what it looks like from God’s side…
As the apostle writes to those who have received salvation through Jesus Christ, we have this blessed and precious promise in a beautifully worded picture…
For we who are in this tent {these bodies we have known here on earth} groan…
being burdened…
not because we want to be unclothed….
but further clothed…
that mortality may be swallowed up by life. 2 Corinthians 5:4
That MORTALITY…may be SWALLOWED UP by LIFE <3
You see, dear grieving heart, from our side…
death is stealing the ones we love…
but we must raise our eyes and see it from God’s side…
From His point of view, for those who belong to His Son…
His eternal LIFE is swallowing up our death.
In this we can rejoice, tho our hearts weep for the absence of our loved one.
And even in this…
He is with us <3
Thank you for sharing these heartfelt and comforting words and the scriptural message from Paul. I also love the photos you include with the message.
Thank you Barb. I confess it often takes me as long to find the right pictures as it does to write the post…sometimes longer…I do believe a picture is worth a thousand words…and it takes less than a thousand words to make a picture…bless you for noticing and saying something <3