To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven… (Eccles 3:1 KJV)
I wasn’t planning to write this particular post this week, but sometimes we find our plans changed. Sometimes a day may bring news that shocks us to our core. So is life. So is God.
I have to admit that I’m not always the best at receiving change. I’m an organizer, very task-oriented, and a very keep-to-my-calendar type of person, even in casual settings. If I could plan texts I receive in a day, I would. That’s not good, is it? Don’t judge.
The biggest change to grapple, I think we all could agree, is when we find ourselves suddenly without someone. When death happens, that’s it. Someone isn’t here earthly any longer. When my grandmother’s days were limited and we knew she was dying, I had to wrap my mind around that moment that would come, when we’d receive the news that that’s it. It’s over. Done. She’s not coming back. It’s hard.
So I find myself as of the writing of this post realizing the recent deaths of friends. Change again. Though they weren’t family and though I didn’t see them daily, they’re still not here. Someone is without them, and I know they’re hurting.
In the midst of the heaviness felt when death comes, I pray for those who remain. For comfort, yes, but mostly, that an acknowledgement of God will come – to honor Him in believing that His will is supreme, and to thank Him for keeping His promise to those now gone.
Our times are ordered by God. No one arrives or leaves until He wills it. But before the leaving happens (and we never know when it will), love those He’s given you. Enjoy them, appreciate them. Remember them.
For Clyde, Mable, Shepard.
Photo credit: Melchee Johnson
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