Losing What You Assume

Why does it take losing something for you to appreciate it's worth? What is it going to take for you to appreciate the very air you breathe?

I have a friend who is recently dealing with death. Her brother died at the age some call "the prime of life." 3 days before his 28th birthday. 

When you aren't personally connected to the permanent calamity of death, it's easy to only kinda feel bad but then just shake it off without another thought. 

When is the last time you thought about death?

Recently it feels like it's been put on my doorstep.

I have another dear friend who could have died in a car crash at the age of 17, but lived with scars to show.

As Christians we have hope and even anticipation in death. We get to trade this broken world for eternity with the Author and Perfecter of our faith! For those of us still here on earth, death is still painful. We still have to deal with our grief, but we have hope that we can cling to, making parting a bitter-sweet agony.

But what do you do when you aren't certain, or when you know for a fact that the person you mourn is not with Christ in heaven? 

How do you even begin to comfort? How do you move on from grieving when their death is so permanent, even into eternity? It can be easy to blame God. To question His goodness and love. 

It is then that we want to know...

WHY GOD?? 

Painfully, many times we may never know the answer.

But don't let unanswered prayers be the match that lights the fire of anger and bitterness toward God. Rather, the shortness of life on earth should be the torch that fuels the urgency of the Gospel message. When put into the perspective of life and death the trivial matters of life become just that. Trivial. Suddenly the sun seems warmer, air is more precious, and hitting all the red lights on the way to pick up your coffee isn't such a big deal. 

Our need for a Savior becomes abundantly clear. Forgiveness and reconciliation becomes a priority. 

"Life is short, so don't take it for granted!" is a concept that has become worn out and meaningless. But that doesn't make it less true. 

As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes. For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and it's place remembers it no more. Psalm 103:15

I don't want to be morbid, but when is the last time you seriously thought about death? And not just thought about it, but made changes in your attitude and actions? The very air we breathe is not a guarantee, yet we just assume we will have it. Tomorrow is not certain, yet we assume it is. 

I'm not implying that we shouldn't make plans for the future. What I am trying to get at is how ungrateful we can become and how grossly entitled we claim to be. God made us for a purpose and we should be careful to not get sidetracked in pursuing His will. 

So be slow to anger, love with all you have, forgive quickly, always be thankful, see the urgency of the Gospel's good news, live without regrets, and remember that life is a gift.