Experiencing Reality After Loss
As you return to school, you’re entering the year with slight apprehension. The world has continued to move forward, but you’ve shut down inside. You’ve just experienced an immense loss, and you now have to redefine your world. Your identity is unknown, your domain now seems so unfamiliar. What once seemed normal, now feels like a dream. The certainty of your daily life has become unreliable. You stare at your reflection and realize you took for granted what should be reality.
But as you peer outside, into the natural world, you can see the ground bursting with life. Beautiful flowers are still blossoming all over the earth. Trees are covered with fresh green lace. Purples and pinks are exposing a great energy. Birds are chirping a brilliant song. The earth reminds us that life can be normal.
Something to Rely On
In the midst of all the insecurity and chaos of your recent loss, God has provided you with stability and reliability. He has given you something you can be sure of. He has given you something to expect and to stand firm on. He has been your constant.
His love, His faithfulness, His promises and providence – you can rely on all of that. But you can also rely on the simple fact that He will make the sun come up tomorrow. He will make summer turn into fall. He will overcome any fear, anger, confusion, doubt you have. He will always give you something normal in the midst of whatever may be unpleasant and far from normal.
There is no “new normal” in Christ. He IS the stability that gives you something “normal” to rest in. He will give you something to look forward to and something to anticipate.
- It is normal to embrace the Father’s love for us.
- It is normal for God to provide everything we need.
- It is normal to celebrate life.
There are so many things that seem “unnormal,” God’s presence in your life can give you peace and security in the ordinary as well as the unordinary. He has the ability to make life normal because He is a continuous, unending, steady beat. He can bring normalcy to the most unnormal situation.
Praise the Lord, my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the Lord, my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
Psalm 103: 1-5
As you’re struggling with seeing His faithfulness, look at the green earth coming to life. Soon you will find revival and abundant life within your own heart.
