Leaving Beyond – Grounded In Scripture

Written by: April J. Buchanan

Every season carries beauty in the ordinary affairs of life. Some of that beauty is nearly impossible to see in the moment and can only be appreciated as time relentlessly marches on. And what once felt so beautiful often cannot compare to what lies ahead. Still, today is what we have. Too often we are so busy preparing for tomorrow that we miss today altogether.

Little hands and little toes grow while we are watching. Tomorrow they will be grown. If the heart does not learn both how to enjoy and how to let go, it will either cling too tightly and stunt growth or, in self protection, let go too soon. Let the heart enjoy. Teach it how to release.

Memories fade into echoes. Dreams become shadows, often sacrificed for something far better, less selfish, more beautiful than the heart could ever imagine. Some dreams are better sacrificed. Yet foolish men chase a dream at the cost of what was more beautiful and more meaningful. In old age, he will die with more regrets than the man who let his dream die for something that stood beside him in his final moments.

The world tells us to sacrifice spouse, family, and relationships for personal happiness. The world is bankrupt of love, morality, meaning, value, and purpose. It is selfish, and everything it touches loses beauty and weight. What is truly beautiful is what God creates anew. Its meaning, value, and purpose are found in Him. He does all things well.

Meaningless is the pursuit of earthly pleasures and riches. No man is ever satisfied. He dies wanting more. One more pleasure. One more taste. His tongue still longs as wrath overtakes him, and terror consumes what pleasure never could fulfill.

No man who dies in Christ has ever died apart from grace that carries him home. He may die with sorrow for words left unsaid, for loved ones still unconverted, for a grandchild never held, for relationships torn apart by sin. But he will never die without grace. Grace saved him, and grace will see him home. He may die in pain or sorrow, but his heart is secure. Grace is sufficient.