“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18

I’ve recently found a cable channel, FETV, that shows the old Lone Ranger programs that I would ocassionaly watch as a child and sometimes they were cliffhangers. You didn’t know the ending but had to come back next week to see if Tonto would get away from the evil Butch Cavendish gang. Now, having seen the program, I know the ending. When you’ve seen the program, your tension goes down when you know the end of the story. When you don’t have to wonder or worry if things will turn out badly, it affects your perspective and your attitude.

This is why believers in Christ grieve differently from the rest of the world. I had a conversation with a fellow weasel a week ago and we were talking about people we knew who had passed away recently. When believers lose family or friends who are also believers, they grieve because they miss the person who is gone, but they also know they are in a far better place: in heaven, with God, forever. Ain’t God good?

In a sense, we grieve for ourselves because we too, have to find a way forward without our loved one. But we grieve with hope because we know the end of the story. One day, we will join them in heaven and be with God forever. You can have hope, even when there is loss.

How? You’ve got to get a bigger perspective and a longer view. You’ve got to refocus your attention. You’ve got to stop thinking about just the here and now and start living as if there is much more to your story.

This life is not all there is! If you just look at today in this sin filled world and what’s happening right now, you’re probably going to have a feeling of hopelessness. But if you can see what’s happening to you in light of eternity, you’ll realize that this life is preparation for the next. God is getting you ready for eternal life.

Heavenly Father, you have called your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that your hand is leading us and your love supporting us through Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. Amen.

May God be with you,

Jay