Goodbyes can be easy and goodbyes can be hard. In life there are a lot of them and more often than not, they are easy. Whether it is saying goodbye to your spouse in the morning, saying bye to your children as they head to school or saying goodbye to a friend as you head home from a nice dinner; those easy goodbyes become part of our daily vocabulary and we don’t give them much thought. Even here, on the World Race, we have those easy goodbyes. The ones where we say goodbye to our teammates as we head to a one-on-one dinner, to a local coffee shop to snag some free wifi or off to ministry for the day. We flippantly throw the word “goodbye” into our sentences as we head out the door.
But what about the ones that are not so easy? Sometimes when we say “goodbye” we know it carries a certain weight and heaviness to it. Before I got into the car to leave for the World Race, I squeezed my mom in what I knew would be our last embrace for many many months and I said “goodbye” knowing it very well could be the last time (who knows what tomorrow will bring?). It wasn’t any easier with my friends either, because this goodbye was very hard and carried a lot of uncertainty. On the World Race, as you most likely know, we spend around 1 month with a ministry contact. We eat with them, live in their homes, play with their children, go to their church, preach messages, and minister alongside them. We get to know them, they get to know us and they become a part of our family whom we deeply love. Then, as it always does, we prepare to leave. We give hugs and kisses and with tear filled eyes say “goodbye” knowing full well this is definite; often times saying, “I’ll see you in heaven.” These goodbyes are hard.
Then there are the unexpected goodbyes. The ones that seem to blindside us, the ones that take our feet out from under us, and the ones that we don’t think should hurt as much as they actually do. About a week ago my grandfather passed away. To say that I was blindsided would be a lie, I remember the last time I saw him. I remember giving him a hug and a kiss, saying “Goodbye Grandpa, I love you.” Then walking out his kitchen door. I remember getting into my mom’s car and tears began to well up because I knew this “Goodbye” was it. I knew that it was the last time I would get to put my arms around him and hear him say “Love you too, come back and see me.” At this moment, I began to prepare myself for the final goodbye I would say via Facetime. This goodbye was the kind where I had to let go.
So, why do we do it? Why can this one word be so easy and yet so hard? We are created to be a relational people by a relational God. We are created with emotions and responses that help us process our lives. We are created to laugh, to cry, to smile, to dance and to feel. God wants us to feel! Feeling is a gift, not a curse, so do not run from it. When we love, we love deeply and when we mourn we do the same. Even Jesus wept when he lost Lazarus. He was showing his humanity, it is His humanity that is our connection point. He hurt because his friends hurt, He hurts when we hurt. The good news is that we never have to say “goodbye” to Jesus, because we know with all certainty and assurance that He is coming back for His children. We never have to let go of Jesus and he has not, nor will not ever let go of us. Goodbyes are only of earthly concern and though we feel deeply about them, it is just a word. What I am looking forward to is saying, “Hello!” to Jesus for the first and last time.
