The Painful Pause

For many weeks I begged God for a miracle. A healing miracle for a man very sick with covid. A loving husband and father to kids still in the home. I was heartbroken for his family.

One night as I got ready for bed I sensed very strongly that I wasn't to beg any more. Instead, God wanted me to praise Him. This wasn't an assurance that healing would happen. Neither was it an effort to feel better about the situation.

It was to be a declaration of truth in the middle of a storm.

God is in control.

God is powerful.

God is good.

God has good plans for His children.

God uses every trial to bring good into our lives.

He never sleeps.

He never slips up.

He is constantly at work. In every situation. In ways we can't see and in ways we can't comprehend.

God hears the prayers of His children. And He cares. Deeply. If He doesn't answer our prayers in the way we want, it's because He has a different plan. A bigger, better plan. One that might cause great pain to us now but amazing joy later.

The pain can be horrible and often unbearable. Losing a precious family member is like a violent ripping of our very soul.

Yet... when our loved one goes to be with Jesus and we know that is also our destiny, the time of separation here on earth is but a painful pause. This can sound trite, but it's anything but. We exist in eternity. God promises that we will have trouble in this life. All of us will die some day. Some younger than others.

In the perspective of eternity our time on earth is but a blip. When someone we love dies, we hurt, we wail, we question. If for a moment God would pull us out of the here and now and let us see the whole of our eternal lives from the perspective of all of eternity we would realize that the loss we experienced truly was only a painful pause.

Soon after losing our precious one, we ourselves will enter our final home and see them again as if only minutes had passed.

The joy will be unspeakable. Understanding will dawn. All will be well. All will be gloriously amazing!

Thankfully in this case God did an amazing miracle. This good man that the doctors were certain had no hope turned a corner and is now on his way to complete recovery. His family and friends stand in amazement.

"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known."

(1 Corinthians 13:12)

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose."

(Romans 8:28)