2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (Fix Our Eyes)

 <sup>For Amy and Ben

16</sup> Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

This was the verse that we used at my grandma's funeral, and we liked it so much because it really lead us to the doorway of Hope, that we used it again four months later at my mom's funeral.  My grandma's funeral in December of 2008 was the first funeral of a loved one I had attended that meant something, the first death of someone very close to me who I wasn't "ready" to lose yet.  And I remember thinking, how do people without the hope of Christ make it though this?  What do you have at the end of it all if you don't have Heaven and Jesus?  Thankfully, my first funeral wasn't my mom's, because I'm not sure how I would've made it though that without having watched my sweet grandma pass away first in order to know what to expect when Mom died.  The only people I've watched die both died of cancer, so I can't say what it's like for everyone, but I remember that watching their bodies decline in such unrecognizable ways was almost more than I could bear.  Death is rotten.

There is something about the death of a loved one that just doesn't sit right.  We know that all of us will die, yet it still just feels like we were cheated.  And we were.  It wasn't created to be this way.  "In the beginning," we weren't created to experience death.  But with sin, came death.

But all praise to our Heavenly Father, who chose to make a way for us to live forever with Him!  He sent his son, Jesus, who cheated death -- something no one else in all of history has done -- when He rose from the grave three days after He died!  Now that is worth shouting about!!

So, when we "die" now, we don't really die, because if we have chosen to accept what Christ did for us in his death and resurrection, then "to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord" (2 Cor. 5:8), and immediately we walk through an unseen "curtain" (my metaphor) and into God's presence (which will be more wonderful than we can even try to imagine or predict).  So, we are never really "dead".  And in that moment, all the hardship, the disease, the mockery, the ridicule, the poverty, the tears, the stress, the unmet expectations of this world will vanish.  They will mean nothing to us in that moment.  So also will my cars, my house, my clothes, my status at work, my name on plaques and buildings, my Pinterest account, my Facebook account, my Twitter account, all my favorite TV shows and movies, my social status, my stocks and bonds, my vacation rentals, my collection of books, and everything else of material possession -- they will all mean absolutely nothing to me in that moment.

Instead, what will matter in that moment and the moments to follow will be how I loved God and people, how I served God and His people, how I trusted God enough to persevere through tough circumstances, what I did with the material possessions and money He gave me, if I made time for people, if I lived a life worthy of His calling, if I was interruptable, if I told the truth in all things, if I was humble, if I was loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, compassionate, gentle, and self-controlled, if I loved my neighbor as myself and if I loved the Lord, my God, with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.  Because if I did, I am going to have some major celebrating to do with the people whose lives God impacted through me and the people whose lives God used to impact me, and I don't know what all the rewards will be, but if God (the One who owns everything in the entire universe) is in charge of the party-planning, it is going to be one mind-blowing party to kick-off the rest of eternity!

And so, my dear friends, we may be watching those we love as their bodies are outwardly wasting away, but my prayer is that we are equally crying out to God so that we can be renewed day by day in the process -- today and for the next few decades.  Our momentary troubles (and oh, how they hurt) are developing in us characteristics that we could never develop if it weren't for these troubles, and the characteristics and trust and faith that these difficult times create last forever.  Forever.  Even into Heaven.  So, we must keep our hearts focused on what we can't see (our God and His Heaven and the work that He is doing in us) because those are the things that will last for all of eternity.  
And we will be there soon, too.

I love this from The Message:

^16-18 So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.

Keep pressing on and leaning in Him, my brothers and sisters.  God brings light from darkness, life from death, and He is working in you in the midst of your grief.  I promise you, because I know so! We are almost there, and it will be magnificent, and all of this will be worth it.  He promises.