Life is Often Far too Short

Some times life ends too soon; before we expect it to end. Some times it is sudden; some times it is expected. Life has a funny way of ending. By funny I mean not funny at all, but you know what I mean by that; I hope.

Recently it seems death has been very present among those I know. Thankfully I haven't had to experience this in quite some time but I know the feelings and emotions all too well. Two of my favorite people of all time passed away when I was in junior high and high school (my grand parents). I still remember going through their house and helping pick what was kept and what was to be sold/given away/thrown out. But this isn't about me, it is about others.

There is a sweet family that lost their father/husband in a sudden accident. It wasn't expected, he wasn't sick, it couldn't have been predicted. One day they had their daddy, the next day they didn't. One day their husband woke up and walked out the door for work, but didn't come home. Can you imagine that? That is someone's reality. Several people's reality actually but in this case it is them ... their world has stopped for a brief moment in time. They are left with memories that can't hug them before they go to bed. Those memories can't tell them that everything is going to be alright and that daddy is coming home, because he isn't. All they can do is try to pick up where things left off and start over. A life without her best friend that slept in her bed with her every night. A life without daddy.

What would you do? Can you imagine that?

Just the mere thought of it makes me want to curl up in the fetal position and bawl like a big baby. It makes me want to go home and hug my own daddy.

Often we read verses like Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." Somehow we think that verse makes us invincible. Many times we forget to keep reading: Jeremiah 29:12-14 "Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek Me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the LORD, and I will restore your fortunes and gather you from all the nations and all the places where I have driven you, declares the LORD, and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile." [So I am not saying this traumatic event has sent this family into exile, just hang with me]. We think because of verse 11 that our life is going to revolve around what we consider good and what we consider our future, welfare, and hope. Bad things happen, God allows/causes those bad things (contrary to popular belief). Not because God is "bad" but because God has a purpose that we do not always understand. We may never understand His reasoning for things, but when we acknowledge His all-knowing, all-seeing, overwhelming love for His people we see that our plans are not God's plans. Proverbs 16:1 "The plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD." God has all the answers, we do not.

God knows the plans; He knows the paths; He knows the future and the hope. We only see a tiny little portion, our own lives and those we hold dear around us (some times not even that). When He causes these traumatic events or allows them to happen He wants us to call upon Him and go to Him in prayer. Like David, He wants us to pour everything out to Him: Psalm 22:14 "I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast." The Lord wants us to seek Him and find Him in events like these. Just as the LORD has pursued us, He wants us to pursue Him. He knows all things and knows the answers to all things. So why would we seek the knowledge of others before seeking that of God. He also tells us in verse 14 that He will restore our fortunes and gather us up from where we have been driven. That alone implies that we are going to have misfortune and be driven away from all that we know. He knows why, He knows where, and He knows how. In events like this, He wants us to pour our hearts out like water that has been poured out all over the place. He knows we are going to be a big crying hot mess. He made us that way, He is not surprised when we do become that way. He knows we are going to be all out of sorts and that our heart is broken. This family feels like they are melting into the very floor they are walking on, they have lost a key part of their lives. Their whole lives have been flipped upside-down. Everything has changed for them; their hearts are broken.

Psalm 34:18 reminds us that "The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit." Psalm 147:3 says "He (the LORD) heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds." God promises to make things better. Things will never be the same but He will bind up the wounds, heal them, save the crushed spirit, restore their fortunes, and give them hope. Things will forever be different, but this is not the end. Not yet. He still has a plan, that is why the rest of this family is still here.

Some of you know this family personally, don't forget to pray for them. Don't forget to hug your families and remind them how much you love them.

Some of you do not know this family at all; please pray for comfort for this family. Don't forget to hug your families too.

This family loves each other dearly, the hug each other often; don't think I am saying anything against them. My heart (and prayers go) goes out to them and as I sit and think about all that they are going through right now, it is all I can do to not start crying myself. This event in their lives has reminded me in any events (big, small, traumatic, mundane, etc) I am (we all are) to be seeking the Lord. I am to love at all times, even when it is hard. Life is often far too short to spend most of it mad at others or not loving others. We never know when our days with them will end.

Decide to make today and everyday here after different.

You have a choice, we all do.