Saying Goodbye to Goodbyes

The grief is deep when a loved one dies.

The sadness of having to send a friend off on a new adventure far from you is palpable.

Packing up and driving our first-born to college is on our agenda in the coming new year. I get a pit just typing about it.

Goodbyes are hard.

In every instance there is a longing to be together again. There is a heaviness to the memories, the pictures bring a new ache.

We were born for one another; for communion and community. So every time we utter "goodbye", that little word precedes a tear at the "ever-presence" of that relationship. After the tearing comes the tears.

As a Christian, I want to dig around and seek out hope and comfort and permanence when I'm grieving or sad or I ache. I want heart-ache and unpleasantness to toss me to God, His Word and His promises. God's Word, specifically, Revelation 21:1-4, does just that; pulls me to God and His promises.

There we see that we will experience the reality that the dwelling place of God is with man and that we will be with Him and He will be with us.

One of the many glorious things of this passage is the wonderful plurality that God purposed in that promise. It is for us, not just me. Not just you.

The Christian's communion with the Triune God will be experientially constant and forever present. As a Christian, you will always and forever be with Him. There is and will be no greater joy.

But God wants us to know that we will forever enjoy Him...together. True communion with Him and with one another.

With every goodbye and the sadness that will surely follow, lean into that promise.

Know that there is nothing permanent about goodbyes for God's people. As the former things pass away, we will, together, say goodbye to goodbyes forever.

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