Thunderstorm Thoughts

Here's the deal: There was a thunderstorm.
It was 12 AM.  I had a nightmare.  I was scared.  I think of the people I know in heaven.  Then, I feel sad.  I guess you could say "down in spirits" or "melancholy".  The point is, I miss them.  A lot.

Psalm 16
I started flipping through my study Bible again... Concordance/Subject Guide.  Out of curiosity, I looked under the title of "DEATH".  The thing is, grief is tough.  Death itself is scary, and getting over it is unimaginably hard.  You always think or feel of the things you "COULD HAVE"  or "SHOULD HAVE" done while they (the person) was still on earth.  While they were with you physically, we tend to find ourselves taking the simplest yet most important things for granted.

• "Things" --> Objects, tangible stuff . . .
• "People" --> The important people in your life.  The ones you love or did at one point                    in your life.  Your role models. Brothers and Sisters you know from                            church. Family.  Good friends.     

It's quite hard to imagine that in the blink of an eye, in a snap of a finger, those people that you care about could be deteriorated to almost NOTHING.  Whether it is physically, emotionally, or spiritually.  Their soul, their character, and their personality.  The little things about them that made them who they were.  *SNAP* They could be physically dead.  A fatal accident.  Cancer.  A horrible disease/sickness.

That's physical death.  Their body is gone; their heart no longer pumps.  I get the chills just thinking about it.

Psalms 16 (written by King David) presents something different.  A hope and a future in the afterlife.  YOUR SOUL.  The type of person you are, your character/personality, and your hobbies.  Who you really are on the inside.  Your heart.  Verse 10 says ". . . because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, . . ." .  There IS a future.   The people that have "passed away" are still, in a way, 'alive'!

This kind of 'life' is different than physical aliveness.  [I'm alive and well, because your spirit lives within me . . . because, you died and rose again! Amazing love! How can it be? That you my King should die for me . . ."] (-Amazing Love by Chris Tomlin) 

The thing is, God sent His One and Only Son to die for us.  Jesus' death, His sacrificed life paid the hefty "price" for ALL of our sins.  Had we lived the way we do now, I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have known Jesus, God, or Christianity at all!  Man, I don't even know what people were doing in China during Jesus' time, and I'm pretty sure Canada wasn't even discovered!  It is because of Jesus that we can look forward to going to an awesome, happy, joyful place once our stay on Earth is done.  HEAVEN.  

Those six letters mean the world to me.  Now, I know deep down in my heart there are several people waiting for me up there.  Boy, am I ever excited.  To be able to see them again, to be able to spend time with them, to see them happy.  No more pain or sadness.  THAT is what I look forward to.  And, if we think about it that way, grief doesn't seem too big to overcome.  The word "Death" and the feeling that comes with it doesn't have such a huge effect.

With the help of Jesus, we can overcome these depressing feelings.  By holding His hand, our pain and sorrow becomes replaced with happiness and hope.  Walking the journey of life with Jesus may not always be easy, but it will definitely be worth it in the end.