I can honestly say that I've never experienced a time when I've witnessed, firsthand, so much sickness and death. I've watched as people have grappled with medical diagnoses or unexpected illnesses. My heart has been broken for families who have had to say goodbye to loved ones much earlier than they ever expected. Through it all, here's what I've been reminded of over the past four months...
God is as near to us during the times when we feel the loneliest as God is during ti...mes when we feel the power of God's presence right beside of us.
God is standing watch in hospital rooms and funeral chapels, ensuring that we never lose sight of just how close God is- closer than the very breath we breathe.
God is doing something strangely beautiful as we near our final moments on Earth. God is holding tight to our hand, whether we're the one taking our final breath or the one saying our tearful goodbye.
God is there. Holding us. Comforting us. Loving us.
God is always with us. In the best of days. In the worst of days. When we feel like we have it all together. When we feel like everything is falling apart. God is always with us.
Though we experience heartache and pain and grief, the promise of Scripture, the assurance of the Christian faith, is that God is here. Among us. Within us. Beside us. I don't know exactly what you're going through, but I do know this- God is going through it with you.
Look for God's glory. Listen for God's goodness. Experience God's grace. And through it all, find hope and assurance in the reality that you are precious and treasured in God's sight. You are loved. And you are not alone.
Rev. Jarrod Caltrider
Sandyville United Methodist Church
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