Those Who Lived In Christ Are Still Living With Christ

Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise. Luke 23:43

I once heard of a young man who said he would not cry at his father’s funeral, which immediately captured my attention. Upon further examination, it turned out he said that because he knew his father, who had been saved in Christ, would be fully happy and at peace to the point that he would not wish to come back to this earth. And the son believed crying in that case was crying for himself…and what was the point? While I can’t say I won’t cry at funerals, I know that our loved ones are not lost, but are with our sweet Jesus - and that brings me supernatural comfort.

Being sure that Jacob is in Heaven with Jesus helps me to carry on, but I still miss him. I still have hard days. I still have moments of anguish where I wonder why he is up there, and not here by my side. I still have days of questioning…hurting…and reminiscing. And that is beautiful because it means I had the gift of loving a protective and adventurous brother who I miss dearly. Grief is the price we pay for loving deeply, but I cannot imagine it any other way. The absence of grief would be the absence of loving.

But the Lord tells us that to be absent from the body is to be present with Him. So while I grieve, I also celebrate that my brother, as much as he loves me and our family, would not want to come back to this sin-cursed world. When I start missing Jacob, the Lord reminds me that he is not lost…that He is with my brother and will take care of him until I see him again. Experiencing the Lord as a promise keeper and heaven as a real place gives me rest from the weariness of grief. It can quickly dry up my tears knowing that Jacob and God are watching and looking down on me.

Questions:

• Even facing loss, can you thank God for all the loving memories you have?
• How can you honor the Lord and the lives of those you lost with your life?
• How can you love the people in your life now?