Passing Through

Found this in one of my journals. Wanted to share with you. Hope you enjoy it.

“I am a stranger and a sojourner among you;”
Genesis 23:4
Abraham’s wife Sarah had just died and he went in to mourn and weep for her. It was a very difficult time in the life of Abraham as he faced the task of finding a suitable burial place for his beloved wife. They had been through many struggles together and faced the challenges that come with following the call of God. She had been by his side from the beginning, leaving her homeland in order to go where God was leading. She watched as her husband journeyed up the mountain at the bidding of God to sacrifice their only son. She saw her husband make that painful, heartbreaking climb hand in hand with their only son knowing not if it would be her last time to see him. She had been through the fire with him and now his beloved partner was gone. Abraham’s journey with God was not over. He had further to go with God before he would be called home. 

How did Abraham cope with the loss of his wife whom he loved so much? The secret is found in the words he spoke to the natives of the land after she died. Read them once again; “I am a stranger and a sojourner among you.” As Abraham faced the responsibility of making the arrangements for burial, he spoke these sobering yet powerful words. He understood that this present suffering, this time of sadness was a fading shadow and that someday the sun would break forth and it would be over. He was just a stranger, only a sojourner in the land of grief and pain. A sojourner lives each day moving steadily forward to their intended destination. He keeps his eye not on the land of passage but on the land yet to come, his permanent homeland that beckons him onward. This is what stays the heart through the most difficult passages.
God’s children have their eternal residence waiting ahead of them. Do not linger in the land of grief, beloved, pass on through knowing your end has not come yet. The land of heartbreak and pain is not your final resting place. Thank God that you are passing through and sadness only lasts for the night. All that is in this world is temporary, and all that is in it will pass away because we will pass through it.
Keep Thy heavenly shores in the forefront that I may look upon them as I pass through the present hour.