Back on the Narrow Path

Some time before grabbing the cheap lifeboat of empty diversions as I flailed in a sea of sorrow, I had an epiphany that remains with me, burned into my soul for the rest of my natural life. Everything on this earth is passing away. One reason my miscarriage had turned my heart upside down, scattering my joy in all directions like the feathers of down pillow is that I was desperately in need of something wonderful to look forward to. I needed hope. In the wake of this tragedy, God reminded me that Jesus is my hope, both now and for all of eternity. From the moment we are born we begin to die, at least in the natural, physical sense. The Bible, however, offers this hope for followers of Jesus Christ: "And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither DEATH (emphasis mine) nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow-not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below-indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 10:38-39 (NLT). I don't have to hang onto my children's childhood and the precious passage of early motherhood, or any other phase of life that is dear, clinging madly to something that is slipping through my fingers like sand, because that which is of greatest value will NEVER be stripped away from me. To know and love God deeply and to walk with Him intimately, enjoying his loving favor is the pearl of great price spoken of in scripture. Now that I have detoured into escape and then found my way back to the path of acceptance, I can face head on the beauty of this truth and, hand-in-hand with Jesus, walk into eternity, day-by-day stripping away my love affair with this world.