When all is said and done, regardless of frustration or peace, we must be able to let things go, and let God.
There are moments when this is easy and moments when this is hard. Living at an average income life means there are plenty of things that are out of our reach, whether that be 5-star overseas travels, making high end extensions on a house, having all the latest things, and we get used to cutting costs and not having expensive hopes and dreams. But when the things you’re born with are at stake, like your health or as the people dearest to you begin to approach death, it takes on a very different toll.
Unlike people we fall out of relationship, or who move far away, who may not hold the place in our lives that they once did, and there can be some grief associated with that, but we can at the end of the day, move on with our lives. However, when the person no longer exists on this earth, they have not only left your life, but they also no longer have life on earth. That reality can shatter us and can make us want to feel like we will remain stuck in this place, in this moment of grief forever. Not wanting to move forward without them.
I think to some degree, that makes sense. God never intended for us to die.
When he made Adam and Eve it was with the intention of eternity, immortality. Yet, with original sin, the invitation of death was accepted and slowly but surely deterioration of all life on earth. It’s why even Jesus had to die. He had to endure the very thing we all will someday, to conquer it and win over the very thing sin invited in, all so that he may redeem us, because that’s the depth of his love for us.
In amidst this great grief, pain and ache, at the heart of the life of a Christian is great faith, trust and hope in the conqueror of death.
What Christ has won for us – eternal life – cannot be lost, while ever we remain united to him.
This is the focal point that this loved one knew from the moment of her diagnosis. She knew where her heart was anchored, and in amidst the pain, somehow, we all lost sight of that and forgot what’s most important in all of this. There is an ebb and flow to life, waves that naturally comes with all of life’s ups and downs. In the face of death, both need to be rooted in the reality of who is the King of the Universe and in control of all that occurs and is allowed to occur in our lives, including that which feels painful. Rooted in that place of trust we can finally surrender it all to God.
Surrender isn’t waving a white flag of defeat. It’s more like collapsing into your father’s arms at the end of a long day to rest, and having your mother hold your face and see deep into your eyes so you experience the depth of what it means to be seen and known. That is much closer to the kind of surrender we’re called to, giving him permission and wanting him to come and be active in our loves knowing he already knows what is best for us, and because he loves us infinitely more than we could ever love another, he already had us on a path of unity with him, all we have to do is choose him each day and let the things that we cannot influence be: Let it go, and Let God.
Written by Stina Constantine
Founder and Director of Virtue Ministry