Being Left

“Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, “I find no pleasure in them”— before the sun and the light and the moon and the stars grow dark, and the clouds return after the rain; when the keepers of the house tremble, and the strong men stoop, when the grinders cease because they are few, and those looking through the windows grow dim; when the doors to the street are closed and the sound of grinding fades; when people rise up at the sound of birds, but all their songs grow faint; when people are afraid of heights and of dangers in the streets; when the almond tree blossoms and the grasshopper drags itself along and desire no longer is stirred. Then people go to their eternal home and mourners go about the streets. (Ecclesiastes 12:1-5)

As we age we lose many things, abilities, friends, associates, family and eventually we will lose life in this world. Loss can be devastating and painful, especially close relationships. Divorce is a form of death in a relationship. Watching our peers pass away is a part of life’s closure. Perhaps the first evidence is the loss of physical abilities, running, jumping, clear sight, meaningful hearing, and senses we take for granted until they diminish. All this can be accompanied with strong emotions. There is great pain in the loss of a spouse or child. 

Does God care enough to do something about our loss and pain? Does He leave us in our pain because it is a part of life?  “May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.” (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17) “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.” (1 Thessalonians 4:13) This is not saying we should not grieve our loss, rather, not like the world that has no hope or Savior and comforter to bear our burdens. (Psalms 68:19; Matthew 11:28) Do we have faith in God who says, “Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.” (Isaiah 46:4)