Endings part 5
An ending doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. Even when its a good thing that's ending. Because there's always something else around the corner. Nothing lasts forever except love. So if you walk by faith (in love) and not by sight, you can roll with the seasons. For everything there is a season, right? Where you're at right now is not where you always have to be. Its not where you'll always be. So enjoy it if its good, and endure it if its not. Learn from it. Grow because of it. Look at Psalm 23:4, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." And notice the word "through." In this life we go through stuff. So don't get stuck. Keep moving forward. Upward and God-ward. Don't let the past define you, and don't let it keep you from enjoying what's happening right now. Every cloud has a silver lining. You don't need to fear. Perfect love casts out fear. Live a life of love--which is what it means to truly live--and you'll be ok. I remember Ranting a while ago about living forever. And how its your Legacy of Love that continues on after you're gone. What I remember most about my dearly departed grandpa is watching the Red Wings with him. Because that's what we both loved to do. And we loved each other. We loved doing it together. That love... that relationship... is what lasts. So even when we're talking about Jesus as Alpha and Omega... when we're talking about love as beginning and ending... its not love that ever ends. But sometimes things end OUT OF love. Because of love. Loving someone doesn't mean enabling them. It doesn't mean staying in a bad situation or an abusive relationship. Loving someone means giving everything you have and everything you are, and knowing that its either enough, or its not. Shrugging your shoulders and moving on down the road if its not. Knowing that you may have a planted a seed that someone else will water. I've had it happen to me more times than I care to remember where I'll try SO hard to "fix" something (or someone) and then after I've moved on down the road they'll tell me that they finally figured it out. Finally heard what I had been trying to say for so long. And that can be hard. Believe me. But you don't love people because of what you think they can, or will, do for you. You don't love because of what you think you can get. You love because of what you have to give. You love because you want people to have what you have. So if they figure it out, even though you're not around anymore, that's still a win. An ending of one thing that resulted in the beginning of another. Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. So don't cry because its over. Smile because it happened. Do your best to enjoy the ride. Don't let an ending wreck you. And don't hold off on a necessary ending because you're afraid of what might happen next. This life is learning and growing. Learning how to love as we learn how we are loved. Growing in grace and in the knoweldge of Christ. Who we are in Christ. Which is who Christ is in us. He is the beginning and the end. He is the Alpha and Omega. He knows what He's doing. Carrying us through. So if it has ended, let it go. If it needs to end, so be it. Its not necessarily a bad thing. Just keep moving upward and God-ward!