Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end.
In May my father died of cancer.
This Thanksgiving was our first without him and this Christmas will be our first without him. And our family is not the same without him. I yearn for my dad who danced with me in the kitchen when nobody was looking, the man who stopped work to play with the grandchildren and when he sold the cattle, he turned the cattle yard into a softball diamond. This is the same man who bought a bunch of land after my son passed away in 2012 from a drowning accident and turned it into a fishing pond for the family. He had it classified as Michael’s addition through the state of South Dakota. We all miss him.
Be still
Be still and know
Be still and know that I am God
But how can I be still when everything in me is crying out for something to happen?
My heart is weeping for the person who is missing. Mourning for what is not going to happen this Advent and Christmas season. While, it seems, like everyone else is enjoying family, friends, cheer, presents, and all the holiday fun, I just want to see my dad and give him one more hug.
I know that God knew that first Christmas that Jesus was going to be put to death and die a horrendous death 33 years later for our sins. The angels were singing, Mary was glowing, the shepherds were on their way to see the new king. Herrod was sending the wise men to meet Jesus and present the gifts. And God...
The more I think about it I believe that God was in the heavens mourning the loss of his only child. He was up there knowing what was going to happen watching the beauty of the first manger scene. We were praising Him and singing Glory in the Highest, Peace on Earth, Goodwill to Men... And God... God did something that no human can or would do. God gave us His son knowing. Knowing that his son would be the savior of the world.
So, when God tells us that He is holding us in the palm of His hands... He knows more pain and anguish than we could believe because he gave us Jesus willingly to save us from ourselves. He mourns with us. He shares with us and our pain. And the beauty is that Jesus is the way to heaven and Jesus means that when we leave this mortal coil we will again see our loved ones that have gone before us.
Be still and know that the God of Heaven and Earth will hold you and your family through all of the pain that you hold in your hearts because the God I know also knows because of His love for us.