Savour Every Moment

This week will mark twenty six years since my father passed away. For a long time I was unable to crawl out from under the grief stone that weighed me down. Watching him slowly fade away, helpless to stop the inevitable was a pain I can’t even put words to. It wasn’t until a particular church service that I was given release. It was the service, but God’s almighty presence and power of healing that allowed me to let go. He chose the time to reveal that yes, He was listening to the cries of a child’s heart. That day, I knew that dad was in the presence of greatness, God Himself.

     

This past week I read at least six obituaries of people that I knew. Some were older, and some younger than me. I saw, through the words printed, the love of family and friends and the impact they made on a little part of the world around them. In that, I saw celebration of a life well lived, yet the mourning of a loved one who had to leave. I also had a long-time friend have to endure the passing of a brother. She watched for many months, as he slowly slipped away into the heavens. I had never met him, yet somehow got to know him through her. The same helplessness and grief that I knew, is now within the households of his family. Time, will bring healing, and God will be there every step of the way. It may not seem like it now, but a revelation day will come and they will get an understanding of some of the purpose that their loved ones had. There will be an encouragement for the family to move forward.

  

I thought of these people while reading Genesis 49, where Jacob called all his sons to his side to tell them what God had shared about their future. He shared good and bad things that were to come, yet I’m sure his sons savoured every moment of their father’s wisdom and teachings. My encouragement is for all of us to do the same. Share your love with each other daily. Tell your friends and family how much they mean to you. Be with them in grief, and in glory. Share a laugh and a cry, a meal and a coffee. Listen to God when He speaks to your heart, and don’t cast Him aside when tough days come knocking. The life banquet we have been given is to be enjoyed. Savour every moment, until we meet each other again, upstairs.

Mike Shindruk

www.mastershandministry.blogspot.com