Grieving the Goodbyes

I said goodbye to my piano teacher today.

That was difficult.

Even though I’ve only known her for a few years, it was still really hard. I drove away from her house pondering the reality that I may never see her again.

Are goodbyes supposed to be this hard?

Thankfully, I haven’t had to endure many goodbyes. I said goodbye to my grandfather before he passed away, I said goodbye to a close friend when she moved to another state, and I said goodbye to my sister when she headed off to college.

But I have never been the one to leave. I have always stayed in my cozy home with my loving parents and my sweet sisters. I have never lived anywhere else but here. My home has remained constant, which means that my life has felt constant (for the most part).

But now my home is taking a temporary trip to a distant land called “college.” In this distant land, I may love my temporary home or despise it. The fact is that I have no idea what will happen.

Sadly, there will be many goodbyes in the near future. I’ll say goodbye to friends and church members and relatives. I won’t get to see my youth pastor at youth group every week or meet my friend Emily for lunch whenever I want to.

Sure, they’re all just a call, an email, or a text message away.

But they won’t be with me.

Sure, I will probably see them again when I come home for breaks.

But they won’t be with me.

Sure, I can catch up with them over Skype and see their beautiful faces.

But they won’t be with me.

Who will be with me?

He will.

Jesus will.

…and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).

There is One who I will never have to say good-bye to. I don’t have to worry about being alone because Christ will be with me to the end of the age—even at college.

But I’ve got a job to do—and it doesn’t involve buying supplies for my pity party.

This is what we have to do:

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:19-20).

We need to praise God because He will never leave us and then teach others that very thing. We can rejoice in the fact that He is near even when it feels like we’re being abandoned (or are abandoning) the whole world. And we have to share this message!

You may not be going to college this fall. Maybe that is five years away, or maybe it was twenty years ago. I do not know how old you are or what your situation is.

But I do know this:

He is with you at your new middle school, your new job or your new home. He holds you as you hold the hand of a dying friend and when you hold your brand new grandbaby.

Don’t keep this “blessed assurance” a secret. Others need to know that they’re not alone.

Jesus will never say goodbye, and we never need to say goodbye to Him. Life must go on, so remember to keep Him first in every part of it—especially in the new seasons ahead of you.