LIfe Hurts

 My little guy is gone.  My heart is heavy and broken.  I know he is with the Lord as God thought making animals was good, but I want him here with me.  

Asher James left this world on Sunday afternoon.  It was sad and heartbreaking and so difficult, but I held him til the end and I'm confident of his place in heaven.  Monday morning I awoke with a hurting heart and went about my morning routine to get ready for my day at the shelter.  One of the last things I do is my "God time." I want it fresh in my mind as I go out the door to face my day.  I was behind a day on my daily devotional so I decided to read Sunday's as well as Monday's.  

The devotional starts with a Bible verse to set the tone for the day's reading.  And the verse blew me away.  My heart feels like it's weighted down with 1000 pounds as I write this but I know how good my Father is, how kind and how deeply caring about even the death of a beloved pet, knowing the heartache it brings us.  He says, "Be still, and know that I am God..."  Psalm 46:10.   The same message He had given me all week before Asher's death, He gave me after as well.  How beautiful is our God?

Lord, we lose those we love here on this earth.  It's a sorrowful fact of life.  People, animals, they don't stay here forever.  And we wouldn't want them to.  We don't want to stay on this earth forever.  Being with You is so far better than anything we could have here.  Help us to remember that when our loved ones die.  And thank You for the comfort and peace only You can bring us.  I'm so grateful that we have hope because of You.  I will miss my little one, but knowing He is running around heaven comforts my heart.  Thank You for that.  Comfort You children in loss.  In Jesus' loving Name.  Amen.  

Genesis 1:25  And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

Romans 8:20-25  20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us. 24 We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. 25 But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)

Let God's Word be your comfort in times of death and sorrow.  

Let's keep the west coast of the United States in prayer as they fight these horrendous wildfires.  Lord, please put out these fires.  Keep safe those who are fighting them and living in these areas.  Amen.