We live in a world where hope is not welcome. Life in and of itself has an end and many people live with a hopeless end to it. They do not have any light at the end, they only have darkness. These past 8 months have been very difficult as many loved ones have passed on to Heaven. On Friday night I found out about another one of my close friends, who passed. He was an amazing Man, Husband and Father and one of the best musicians in the industry. However, for most of us it was his servant heart that most people recognized when they met him. This was a shocker and completely unexpected because he was strong and healthy and he was doing what he loved. When I heard the news, shock took over and then it was the question of WHY?? He is gone, he was not ready to go, he had so much more life to live and so on. Then I realized on my walk this morning I was thinking from a “hopeless end” mindset.
I know and love Jesus and I know that my friend loved him and served him well. He is no longer with us and the pain of that loss will be heavy, but we have a light to turn to. Jesus gives us the peace of knowing that Jim is alive and well, but just not with us. Our mindset needs to be of and Endless HOPE. We must know and trust Jesus and turn our hope to seeing Jim one day again. As I was walking a long the beach and listening to Billy Graham and he is the one that said ” As believers we have an Endless Hope!” I want to hold onto that as I mourn the loss of my dear friend. He is someone I did camps with and we were attached at the hip during all those years. We had so many amazing conversations about life and to know those won’t happen anymore really hurts!! I think this is the time that I need to take a step into his servant heart. I want to keep his passion for learning about Jesus and sharing it with other men, who are living this life here on Earth.
My friends in the last 8 months I have lost 4 people who were very significant during different seasons of my life. It reminds me more and more how important it is to share and live as Christ has called us to do so. I believe I need to make a change in my life and I have felt so for a while. I mostly get lost to the thought of change because I just let everyday living consume me. When I think about my friend, he was always and I mean ALWAYS trying to help someone or see how someone was doing. He was genuine and as the saying goes, We lost a Great one, it is true. However, Heaven gained another beautiful Beloved son. Grief is hard and it is not something we were designed to experience, but because of the fall of Adam, we do.
Remember God’s big picture is filled with ups and downs, but our faith needs to be solid and secure. When we can hold onto Faith that is the size of a mustard seed, we can experience the Endless Hope mindset. We need it as believers because this world is dark and many of our loved ones will pass away because everyone dies! For us, believers, death is not the end it is the Beginning of our eternal life. I will miss my friend Jim dearly as will so many others. My prayers go out to his wife and son and daughter as they deal with this tragic and sudden unexplainable loss. I pray the Jesus will pour his peace and ENDLESS HOPE on their hearts. RIP my dear friend Jim…
One Love, One King, All Christ!
