Losing Something Precious
By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.
© July 16, 2010
www.godsbreath.net
Copies of this and other
homilies available by sending requests to: mikefarrar@aol.com
Isaiah 40:31
”But those who hope in the Lord
will renew
their strength.
They will
soar on wings like eagles;
they will
run and not grow weary,
they will
walk and not be faint.”
My
grandfather, Charles Arthur Farrar, loved to hunt, but he especially liked
hunting with dogs. He knew all about their bloodlines and what made a good
hunting animal. Early in his youth he began raising high quality hunting dogs.
He had several of them but there was one that was very special to him. He and
this hunting dog would scour the woods for foxes. The exhilaration of the hunt
bonded them together, but even if they never found one fox they both loved
being out in God’s creation. Any time my grandfather wanted to call his dog he
would just let out a unique whistle and he would come running to his side. They
were best of friends. But something would interrupt this special friendship. It
was a world war.
In
the early 1900’s America became involved in the First World War and my
grandfather went off to fight for his country. He hated leaving his hunting
buddy and best friend but there was no way he could take his dog with him. So
he left it under the care of his parents and brother Howard.
As
they say, “War is hell.” My grandfather never spoke about the war to my father,
but once when we were visiting the Eisenhower Museum in Kansas my grandfather
told me how he operated a machine gun and what he had to do to defend his
country. He spoke only a few sentences about his experience and that was all I
ever heard about his service to America in a horrible war. But he never
mentioned the other loss he had to deal with because of the war. This special
loss of his I learned from my father.
After
my grandfather had completed his tour of duty he returned home. He was dropped
off at a dirt crossroads in the country and then he began the long walk home.
His house was way back in the woods so he began walking along the trail that
led through the dense timber. When he thought he had gotten close enough, he
began whistling for his hunting dog.
Normally his dog would hear his special whistle and come running, but
this time there was no response. As my grandfather got closer and closer to his
home he became more and more concerned.
He reached the path that led to the front door of his home and he
quickly walked towards the weather-beaten front porch. He was excited to see
his parents and brother again, but he couldn’t shake his fearful concern for
his hunting companion.
He
reached the screen door, opened it, then turned the metal knob of the large
wooden door and entered the house he had lived in all his life. The warm smell
of fresh baked cornbread drifted up his nose and he heard his mother and dad
talking in the kitchen. The screen door slammed against the doorframe and his
mother rushed into the room to give him a big hug. His dad came and gave him a
strong handshake, as did his brother. But there was something in each of their
eyes that told him that something was wrong. There were many things he wanted
to say and share, but all he could manage to get out were questions about his
dog. His parents were speechless, so his brother Howard told him to sit down on
the couch in the living room. Howard shared that times had been very hard with
the war and all, and he shared with him how they had to make the difficult
decision of selling his foxhunting dog to be able to buy food. Needless to say
my grandfather was heart broken.
We
all experience loss at one time or another. During our childhood our loss might
be of a favorite toy, a personal pet or a friendship. As we grow older it seems
that life is full of experiences where we lose something precious to us. As
adults we continue to face this situation. We may lose our job, our parents to
cancer, a spouse due to disease or divorce but it seems that life continues to
be full of experiences that revolve around losing something of importance to us
with which we have a great emotional attachment.
How
do we cope with such losses? How do we manage to go on after something is taken
from our lives that means so much to us? I believe there are things we must
understand as we attempt to cope with a deep loss in life.
First,
I believe we must acknowledge that nothing is forever or permanent in this
life. Due to the fact that all of creation is under the curse of sin, pets and
loved ones will pass away. Our security is never completely stable when we base
it on the physical world because jobs, finances and living conditions are
transitory or changeable. I think that storms, tornados, hurricanes and
earthquakes are due to the physical curse on the earth because of man’s sin as
well. These natural disasters cause immense loss to human life and possessions.
We live in a fragile world that has the label “TEMPORARY” stamped all over
it.
Secondly,
we should realize that sin that is so pervasive in our world it can invade our
lives when it influences people to make bad choices and hurt others. Crime and
immorality will creep into our lives as individuals make choices or behave in
ways that have negative affects on our life and cause some form of loss to occur.
The sins of others will cause us to lose relationships, financial stability,
personal possessions, a much-needed job and possibly even our emotional
stability at times. But even wise decisions of others can cause us to
experience loss at times.
Thirdly,
God often allows these situations and events of loss to occur for specific
reasons. Sometimes the only thing that will cause us to strive to have a
relationship with our Heavenly Father will be when our faith in this world or
ourselves is allowed to fail. We tend to be a rebellious people and often until
we see that the things of this world do not last, we avoid seeking a
relationship with our Heavenly Father. Our earthly choices have eternal
consequences and without the loss of precious things and people, very often we
would die in our sins and face eternal judgment. God is more concerned with our
eternal existence than our temporary comfort. He loves us too much to leave us
where we are and so allows the fragility of life to be shaken by losses to help
us realize the need we have for Him.
But
how do we deal with the overwhelming emotions we have when we experience a loss
of something precious? When a long-time family pet dies or when a sister,
brother, mother, father or spouse passes away we can be overcome with grief and
sadness. When we lose a job or are forced to move from a place we have lived
for many years we can face depression and an oppressive sadness. Fear can grip
our innermost being when we lose our health as we age and are diagnosed with diabetes,
cancer or some debilitating disease.
The
best and first thing we can do to cope with a loss is to seek the One who rules
over all of creation, the Lord God Almighty. We are not in control of our life
and we must realize that He is. He has allowed what has happened to occur for
some purpose that we may never know in this life. Our situation may make no
sense to us. It may seem very unfair and possibly even cruel, but God loves and
cares for us more than anyone. I truly believe that we cannot fathom how deeply
God loves us. He loves in an extremely deep godly way that is heavenly and
beyond any love we have ever experienced. If we trust that He has this depth of
love for us we can begin to heal. If we also have faith that He will work in
and through us to help us overcome our hurt and pain of losing something
precious to us, we will recover. The verses that speak to us about how to deal
with precious losses are too numerous to list in a short homily but here are
just a few.
Psalms 31:24
“Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in
the Lord.”
Psalms 62:5
“Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope
comes from him.”
Psalms 71:14
“But as for me, I will always have hope; I will
praise you more and more.”
Corinthians has a scripture passage that talks about how we
can be an over-comer and a survivor if we have Christ within us.
2
Corinthians 4:7-10
“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to
show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard
pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but
not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of
Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.”
We have Christ in us when
we have accepted Him as our Lord and Savior. This allows us to have a true
relationship with God. The Holy Spirit will minister to us in times of loss and
as we grow in faith and understanding of God’s Word we are able to withstand
the losses of life as they take place.
Isaiah has a
beautiful verse that illustrates very well how a relationship with our Heavenly
Father can give us an ability to deal with a loss of something precious to us.
Chapter 61 verse 3 states that we can put on a “garment of praise instead of a spirit of
despair.” As we let
God minister to us in times of deep loss, our despair can transform into praise
of our loving God.
Without the Lord as your personal Savior, facing a
loss will be harder to deal with and take much longer to recover from, so seek
the Lord whenever you face a horrible loss of something precious. He is always
as close as a simple prayer.
Psalm 34:18
”The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in
spirit.”
When
something or someone you cherish becomes only a memory, the memory becomes a
treasure and an extra blessing can come from the Lord as He shows you the
purpose for the loss was to refine you into a much better person. Trust in the
Lord during a loss of something precious. You’ll never ever regret it.