God’s existence and love displays itself continually in intimate moments of my life. Whether it be a breath-taking sunrise or the innocent smile of a child, I catch glimpses consistently of my Creator. They become reminders that I am the daughter of a powerful King.
But recently I found God in an unlikely place. I’ve discovered His love in a dark corner; a location where many people choose to run from Him. I found God’s unending love in the midst of death.
Death is an inevitable end for all. It is an event no one can escape. From the moment we arrive in this world, only one thing are we assured–we will depart it. Unless we are to fall into the hands of fate at a very young age, we watch people, animals and nature die around us as we grow. Despite this knowledge of truth it is something we never get used too. Each death we encounter stings equally as the last. From losing a grandparent to a life-long pet the soul aches tragically.
Yet this everlasting pain is a gift from our Creator. Why would something we have all our lives to prepare for, something we experience over and over, always bring us to our weakest point? Perhaps it is because while we know the fate is inevitable, we do not believe it. It becomes a battle of knowledge versus belief. Many would say these words are synonymous, but I argue differently. Knowledge is of the mind; but belief is of the heart.
Often these two attributes align, but on rare occasions we find them at war. This occurs at a devastating intensity in the time of death. We must examine further. If we can see that death is inevitable–we feel it, touch it, smell it, watch it, it is too tangible of a reality–how can we not believe it?
God has placed in our hearts a binding eternal force. Each relationship we build with a loved one is not created with an end in mind. Our relationships are not made to have a beginning and an end. They are only meant for growth. Forever. When I ponder the love my fiancé and I share, I cannot grasp it’s end. The thought of death provokes panic. Not being able to touch him, hear is voice or smell his scent again is unbearable. My mind knows that I may have this woeful reality, but my heart tells me our love is eternal. This is true for all my relationships, from my parents to my friends.
So why would our Creator give us such a passionate yearning only to be devastated by the defeat of death? The answer is rather simple. Death is not the end. We are meant to share eternity with our loved ones and the God who gave them to us. A loved one’s departure from us in this world is only temporary. In the next life we will be unified in perfection we’ve never dreamed of on Earth. God made us relational and communal beings for a purpose. His love is so great He gave us a glimpse into our heavenly home by placing eternity in our souls.
The temporary pain of loss we experience on this Earth is but a reminder that we are eternal beings. We are not meant for death. We are not meant to cease. God created us to exist in love forever. So then it becomes a choice. What eternity do we choose? One where we are reunited with our loved ones or one where we are forever desolate and alone? Put like this it seems such an easy choice, but many of us have a difficult time boiling it down. But it is this simple.
Choose your loved ones. Choose an eternity of joy. Choose to spend it with your Creator–who loves you more than anyone you’ll ever know. Choose the man who layed down His life so that you could have this choice.
