For those who die in Christ, the sting of death has been removed, but those of us who still live on this earth walk by grace, abiding in Christ shocking through the sorrow of separation. In speaking about Epaphroditus, Paul said, “For indeed he was sick to the point of death, but God had mercy on him, and not on him only but also on me, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.” Death is a result of the fall, and our DNA is not wired for that kind of separation. When Christians die, they die in Christ, and in their death, they are swallowed up by LIFE. Those of us who remain in Christ on the earth can celebrate that “magnificent possession” for them. Still, for those of us who remain and deal with the desperately strange feelings this weird, unnatural separation brings, must too, as much as we can while still in this flesh, be consumed by Christ who is our life so that our sorrow stays holy and doesn’t become an opportunity for the enemy to kill, steal, and destroy. It is holy to embrace the real sorrow separation brings as long as we embrace the sorrow while being embraced by Christ. Those left behind to live on this earth and who live envying those who have been swallowed up by the life we only yet know in part still have our story to be walked out and our destiny in Christ to fulfill. The Psalm says that “Our times are in His hands.” Why did they have to leave us when they did? All I know is that their times were in His hands, and they never really belonged to us anyway. They were always and still are in Christ. They always really belonged to Him, not us. They were his gift to us for a season, but they had they have own destiny in Christ. We will get over the loss one day when we too are swallowed up and join them at the feet of Jesus, but until then, the pain is real, and we don’t really get over the separation because love does not work that way but we do get beyond. Their departure to the far country, that is home, doesn’t mean that your story is over with, and it doesn’t even mean that their part in your story is over with, for they are praying for you, from their perfected union in Christ in heaven, that you will fight the good fight, and finish your course, keeping the faith. Therese of Lisieux died when she was 24 years old, and on her deathbed, she comforted those around her who were weeping because she had impacted their lives so much, by saying to them, “I can do more for you there (heaven) than I could ever do for you here.” You will always treasure the divine deposits they imparted to you while you were together on this earth, but you will come up out of the immediate stark wilderness of pain “leaning on your beloved Jesus.” As you do, you’ll find yourself more deeply attached to His heart and detached from this world while being more intentional to run the race to win than ever before. The truth is, we never belonged to them either. We’ve always belonged to Him too.
