There Is A RedeemerSample

Goodbye for Now

My granddaughter Allyssa and I have a regular routine we go through when we say goodbye. We wrap our arms around each other and begin to loudly wail with dramatic sobs for about twenty seconds. Then we step back and casually say, “See ya,” and turn away. Despite our silly practice, we always expect that we will see each other again—soon.

But sometimes the pain of separation from those we care about can be difficult. When the apostle Paul said farewell to the elders from Ephesus, “They all cried as they embraced and kissed him good- bye. They were sad most of all because he had said that they would never see him again” (Acts 20:37–38).

The deepest sorrow, however, comes when we are parted by death and say goodbye for the last time in this life. That separation seems unthinkable. We mourn. We weep. How can we face the heartbreak of never again embracing the ones we have loved?

Still . . . we do not grieve like those who have no hope. Paul writes of a future reunion for those who “believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again” (1 Thessalonians 4:13–18). He declares: “The Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God” (V. 16), and those who have died, along with those who are still alive, will be united with our Lord. What a reunion!

And—best of all—we will be forever with Jesus. That’s an eternal hope. CINDY HESS KASPER

At death, God’s people don’t say “goodbye,” but “we’ll see you later.”