The Year of Goodbyes As 2015 vastly approaches, I’ve been reflecting heavily on 2014, which for myself has been “The Year of Goodbyes”. I’ve had to say goodbye a lot this year. It wasn’t until I participated in group therapy this semester that I realized I struggled with saying goodbye. Goodbyes are hard. And life is full of goodbyes. Think about all of the things and people we bid farewell to over the course of a lifetime: friends, spouses, parents, jobs, homes, schools, relationships, pets, developmental stages, personal milestones…the list goes on and on. Having to say goodbye so many times this year was really weighing on my heart. I turned to the only One who could grant me understanding, comfort, and peace: God and His word. In Acts 20:17-38 the apostle Paul models what it means to say a healthy goodbye in one of the greatest goodbyes in the Bible. Pauls missionary journeys often found him having to say goodbye to dear friends who shared a common faith in Christ and with whom he had partnered in ministry. While heart-rending, these goodbyes held an element of hope and encouragement as together they looked to the God who bound them together. When God sent him somewhere else, he was ready and willing to let go and move on. Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declared the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” We have a way of putting down roots and getting settled and comfortable. It’s easy to hold tightly to things that were gifts from God, but yet things that were never meant to be essential as God is to us; things that we can too easily become dependent upon and idolize if we’re not careful. Isaiah 43:18-19 “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” I now see how God was doing something good, hopeful, and intentional even in what I experienced as a difficult and sad goodbye. I can now look back on this year and see how each goodbye grew me, strengthened, and enabled me to move forward along the path God has laid out for me. The greatest take away of this year is knowing that Jesus is with me always. To Him, I never need to say goodbye. Matthew 28:20 “And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age”
Posted on: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 17:50:00 +0000
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