It Still Goes On
“Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Hebrews 13:5
This has been an interesting week. In less than a week we have had three funerals that touched our lives. One I officiated and the other two we attended.
There is something about a funeral that is sobering. As you sit there watching and listening, you sometimes wonder how long it will be until it is you. I know this is particularly true with older people. No one knows when death will come, but older people have a lot better chance of it and funerals wake you up to that fact.
After we got home, Anita and I decided to sit out on the deck with a cup of coffee and watch the little animals play in the pasture. It was cloudy and looking like rain. There was a slight wind and the clouds were moving at a good pace across the afternoon sky. Once in a while there would be a skip in the dark clouds and the sun would suddenly, in a brilliant fashion, show itself through the clouds. As quickly as it broke through, another cloud would cover it over.
Anita remarked to me a truth that screams from the Scripture. “You know”, she said, “It doesn’t matter what happens in this life, God is always there, just like the sun.” Wow! She was right. The darkness of the clouds hid the sun, but every time there was a skip, the sun was right there. We have no need to ask if the sun is still there. It is.
And, in this life, no matter how dark the clouds become and no matter what they obscure from our sight, God is always there. He never left. Death does not run Him away. Storms, earthquakes, disaster or grief does not move Him from our presence. When there is a skip in the darkness, He is visible, reminding us always that He is there.
Let a funeral sober you up and let a cloudy day instruct you about God’s everlasting presence. He will never leave you nor forsake you, and you can count on that. Trust Him!