Grief through Praise

There is always that one thing that we know of, but words fail to give it justice. Constantly we find ourselves in moments where there is a loss for words. It's those moments though, that give us a chance to take a second glance at that thought.
And through those eyes, I see grief.
No one can explain death, other than it is an inevitable phenomena. How, when, why are all questions that are left unanswered, both by us and by God. But the thing is, God doesn't leave those unanswered to torture us. Quite the opposite. Those questions lead us to Him. We come seeking, begging, crying out on our knees for Him because He truly is the only one with answers. Sure, doctors can tell us the cause of the death and when exactly it occurred, but other than that, we have no answers. We will never know the reason a dear friend committed suicide, or why a mother of three beautiful children passed away from incurable cancer, or why a classmate couldn't be saved in surgery, or why a grandparent is suddenly taken away.

What we can ask though is: what are WE doing in the moment that will matter in 1000 years? 100 years? 1 year? 1 week?
Ultimately God is in control of our life, whether we like it or not. We can no more control our life, than the weatherman can control the weather outside. And it's through that realization that we can praise Him through grief.
I truly don't believe that God takes away those who are precious in our life to harm us. Rather, He has deemed those people with a time frame shorter or longer than whatever ours may be. He is jealous for us, so He wants us in His presence. That much is clear. So why should we want to stay away from that longer than we have to? All those that have gone before us, have the incredible pleasure of being with our Savior for THAT much longer. What a neat thing for them!
But just because they have moved into His presence, doesn't mean we should move further away from it. Instead, we should revel in His open arms and the peace He offers us now. God promises never to give us more than we can handle, and that He is ALWAYS at our side. So every day that passes, we should embrace that, after all, we are one step closer to spending that incredible time of worshipping God at His feet.

"He WILL wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." [Revelation 21:4]

Sometimes it isn't easy. Trust me, I've spent more time crying in the past week than in a long while. But, if anything, it should spur me on to live EACH and EVERY day to it's potential. None of us are promised tomorrow, it's a gift. So if we were to go see God in His glory, what of us would be left behind to be remembered? Would it be a life that was lived completely for God? Will it be a testimony pointing to Christ, so that He might be praised through it all?

Live for today. Love for the moment. Praise for a lifetime.