Losing a Loved One

“Heaven is not here, it’s There. If we were given all we wanted here, our hearts would settle for this world rather than the next. God is forever luring us up and away from this one, wooing us to Himself and His still invisible Kingdom, where we will certainly find what we so keenly long for.”  Elisabeth Elliot

Why is it still shocking to lose a loved one who lived to be 90? I’m not sure. And is it really loss or merely a temporary separation? I believe and hope in the latter. My sweet grandmother, Honey, passed away on Saturday due to a complication, after a very risky but successful surgery to remove cancer from her colon. My aunt was with her and said she went in peace.

I’m thankful I got to talk to Honey briefly while she was in the hospital and got to tell her how much I loved her. I’m thankful God gave me a chance to speak with her about Christ and all He’s done for me…and that she responded likewise. I’m thankful she wasn’t alone when she passed. And I’m thankful I got to know her a little better in the last year.

Romans 8:18 has become one of my favorite verses that’s comforted me in times of physical agony. This morning, as I reflect on it, its meaning is even more profound when it comes to my knee-jerk, generic reaction of losing a loved one.

“For I consider that the sufferings of the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

I recently read “The Pursuit of God” by A.W. Tozer. Following is one of his prayers. It’s a rich read that broadened my perspective on God in mind-blowing ways.

“O God, quicken to life every power within me, that I may lay hold on eternal things. Open my eyes that I may see; give me acute spiritual perception; enable me to taste Thee and know that Thou art good. Make heaven more real to me than any earthly thing has ever been. Amen.”  A.W. Tozer