When You Lose Someone

One of the many curveballs that life can throw at you is the loss of someone very close to you. This can happen through many circumstances - through a relationship break-up, a dissolved friendship, someone who moves far away, or even through death. I have been thinking for the last two months about what this should mean and what the effects of it should be, especially for a Christian. I believe that it is normal and okay to grieve and have sorrow towards the loss. One of the hardest things I've discovered is finding someone who can relate to you and your loss. When I was going through the loss of someone very close to me, I found enormous amounts of love and support from all of my family and best friends. But I still felt extremely lonely everyday. People can say they know what you are going through - but do they really? No, every experience and every loss is so personal to each individual. Only you know the intimate and close relationship you had with the other person. I told one of my best friends about this feeling of loneliness and she responded by saying that the Lord knows exactly what I'm going through. I thought to myself - does he really? He hasn't experienced exactly what I'm going through but he did experience a lot - he was betrayed by one of his closest friends, he wept over the death of a close friend, he was persecuted and tortured, he felt the loneliness of being separated from his father, and he experienced death. So even if the Lord has not experienced exactly what I've been through, He has been through enough to be able to emphathize with my pain and suffering. I also had to deal with thoughts such as "how can I survive without this person in my life?" The common response by most is that God's love should be sufficient for me. I understand that concept, but God also placed special people to be in our lives and we are meant to be in relationship with others on this earth. I mean, I guess every relationship that we do have in our life is given by God, so He has the right to give and take away those people at any moment. The battle I've been trying to figure out is how to respond once one of those people has been taken away. If the person is still alive and a romantic relationship or friendship has been broken, we are to trust God that He will protect and watch over that individual and be the center of their healing and hope. I have been through some serious break-ups in my life and I have seen how the Lord has brought a friendship out of a place once filled with so much hurt. With broken friendships, I am hoping and praying the same will occur. If the other individual has passed on through death, we must trust the Lord is also watching over them and that the love we had for that person is still intact even though they are not physically with us. Love is stronger than Death - I fully believe this. Your memories might fade, the hurt might last for awhile, but the love you had for that person will stay strong. When you feel like you aren't even strong enough to make it to the next day because of the hurt and loss, you have to let those around you to carry you through their love and support. Ultimately, it will be God's Love that will sustain you and bring complete healing to your life.