Homeward bound.

Death can be very difficult and painful. It can do something in your heart that may feel uncomfortable; it can bring plenty of sorrow, or it can bring joy and relief.

In any situation, it stirs up a lot of emotions in our hearts. Throughout my life, from the time that I was four years old when my father's father passed away, I have known that it is just a part of life. It always hits home, though, especially when that person was very close to you. Recently it did, when my grandmother passed away very unexpectedly this weekend. Earlier this semester someone that I had taken care of passed away; before then, one of my grandfathers; there were suicides in towns close to mine, along with deaths of classmates because of car accidents.

With all of this, it has helped me to realized more and more how fleeting this life is. It can be gone in the blink of an eye; just before we know it, someone else is taken from this world. There have been shootings, bombings, murders. Every day. In Isaiah 40:6-8, it says this: "A voice says, 'Cry!' And I said, 'What shall I cry?' All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever."

So what of it? What do we do then?

For me, it has opened my eyes to the need for each person that I come in contact to know that they are loved by the Savior of the world. Not only that, but that He died on the cross so that they may live eternally. The only reason why I am alive today is to proclaim the gospel to others- to give God all of the glory, in word, in deed, and in truth. I live to show that there is a hope after we leave this world. In God's Word, He reassures me of this fact time and time again.

Yes, I do believe that there can be joy in death. How? For those that believe in Jesus, they go to heaven. And praise Jesus. Forever and ever. If there isn't joy in that, I don't know what could be more joyous. F'real.

What comes to mind for me when I think of joy in death are these verses:

"When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

'Death is swallowed up in victory.'

'O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?'"

- 1 Corinthians 15:54-55

During this time, I am reassured that my grandmother is praising Jesus in heaven right now. And you know what? Her heart isn't hurting anymore; her lungs are entirely healed and she can breath like never before. She is completely restored with an entirely new body that I'm pretty certain is much better than my own.

Also, this:

"But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself."

- Philippians 3:20-21

This, too:

"For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil."
-2 Corinthians 5:1-10

I am filled with this peace that only Christ can give me. My heart is so full. Tears of both joy and sorrow will fill my eyes. And these eyes are fixed on Christ Jesus, for I am homeward bound. Even so, it is well with my soul. It is well, it is well with my soul.