I am looking forward to a reunion. It might happen tomorrow, or it might not happen for years. I cling to the hope (translated certainty) of the day when I will see my son Matthew again. I know that when we meet again in Heaven, I will never again have to tell him goodbye. When that reunion happens, the time we have been apart will seem like the blink of an eye. Lately I’ve been reminded that there are others all around me who are also looking forward to a heavenly reunion.
In the last few days and weeks, everywhere I look, I see someone that I know who has either lost a child, a spouse, or other loved one. I know the grief that accompanies that loss. I remember those excruciating days when the pain was sharp and new. I have not forgotten what it is like to have my world shaken.
I also know the peace that God gives in the midst of sorrow. I know what it is like to look back and know that He carried me. In the years since my son died, I have learned that with God’s help, I can choose better over bitter. I can be happy.
Scripture tells us that God is close to the broken-hearted. He sent His Son to die for us. That took on a whole new depth of meaning for me when my son died. I had a new understanding of the sacrifice that was willingly made for me.
One day there will be a reunion. What rejoicing there will be!
13 Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 15 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
1Thessalonians 4:13-18 NIV
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