In 1 Kings 19:16-19, we see where Elisha is left by his teacher and friend Elijah. Elisha is letting go of one that he loved so dearly! Letting go is part of everyone's life. We let go of cars, homes, and even friends. We live in a throw away culture where letting go is a change to buy newer, better, shinier things. But this blog isn't about letting go of stuff. It is about letting go of people. It is about letting go of people through death and distance. Only two things in this world will stand the test of time: The Word of God and people. Over the past four years I have become close to friends, whom I dearly love. And the LORD has seen fit to take them home. One in particular was especially precious to me.
As C.S. Lewis rightly points out in his book A Grief Observed, nothing ever repeats itself twice. I know that my friend is better off and with the LORD. It just hurts. But with pain comes growth. I don't know how to expain it, but the death of Poncho changed me. I wanted him to hold my son so much. In a two week time span I held Poncho in my arms for the last time, and I held my son Asher in my hands for the first time. He had told me how much he was looking foward to watching after him. That he would be in the hospital waiting room, the day my wife went into labor. My son will never know Poncho on this side of glory. He will never know how he always took care of so many people. How he took care of our family when he was still in the womb. He will never know what he looked like singing in the choir at First Southern. He will never know how he lead the way in service to other brothers and sisters.
Then it hit me, I have to show him. I can't be Poncho, not by a long shot. But I can show him how to serve other people. I can show him how to make sure things are taken care of properly. I can show him how to love people like Poncho did. I suppose death highlights for all of us the things that truly are important. And it is not a career, not a nice car, not a fancy house: it is love. Love for Christ and love for family. Love for the gospel and love for people. Love for your wife and love for your parents. How do you measure the value of a man or woman's life? You can measure it in love. So I will try to love. Love in a way that I have never before. I resolve to tell people at every opportunity how much the LORD loves them and how much I love them. Why are we so afraid to tell people how much we really care about them? Can you really tell someone you love or appreciate them too much? I have never heard a wife say about her husband, "You know, that husband of mine just says he loves me too much and shows it in too many different ways." I do hear, "I don't hear you say it enough or you say it but you don't back it up." I resolve to love my Savior, my wife, my family, and my church family with more than words, but with service and action. May God be glorified in my loss as he molds me and makes me what he needs me to be: like Christ!
We have a way of talking about letting go of our friends, as believers we call it "trusting in God".
"When peace like a river, attendeth my way,When sorrows like sea billows roll;Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,It is well, it is well, with my soul."- AMEN
