Thoughts on Separation

I had my way,

When I begged of you to stay.

You chose never to leave

My side.

Our lives went on.

How happy we were—

How happy I was

That you stayed.

We laughed together more,

Traveled and explored,

Spent every free moment

In each other’s company.

But if I had known that,

By my way,

You’d lose eternity,

I would not have selfishly begged you

To stay.

If I had known

That my selfish desires

Would lead you astray,

I would not have asked you to stay.

Would I?

God, forgive me.

These words came to mind as I lay down to sleep this evening. They struck me in a powerful way. I was thinking of how sad it is that close friends have to part ways. I have been blessed to make dear friends from all over the world—from various parts of the USA that I may never see, to South Africa, to South Korea. It’s only a matter of time before we part company, and the special times that we have spent together will become only a memory preserved in photographs. The likelihood of my seeing any of these people again in this world is very slim.

Separation is hard, especially when our hearts have been knit together in kindred Christian love. My selfish desires would have all of my close friends from all over the world always accessible—living nearby and able to spend time with me. But then I thought, that is not what God put us on earth to do. Yes, we are social beings meant to love one another and enjoy each other’s company, but our goal is not to solely develop and enjoy relationships on this earth. Our goal is to strengthen our relationship with God, come to know HIM, and bring people to Him—for it is through Him that we have life, and that more abundantly (John 17:3, John 10:10).

Because of this, God has created each one of us with special talents, and God wants us to use those for His glory. He has a great and special plan for each of our lives. Sometimes that means that He will send us to the ends of the earth to leave our family and friends behind. Wherever He sends us, we will start over and make new friends, but then the time may come to move on. If we choose to disobey God because of our selfish desires, we are intentionally ignoring His will and weakening our relationship with Him.

What’s worse, though, is the influence we can have on others. By pleading with people not to leave us due to the selfish desires in our hearts to have those dear to us ever near, we are treading on dangerous ground. We are, in a sense, asking them to choose us above God. And thus, we are leading them away from Him and from growing in the faith.

Paul went to his death in Rome, and in his travels all along the way, people prophesied what would happen to him there and begged him not to go. But what did Paul do? Although he wept with his friends, he showed them the value that God held in His life. Serving God was his top priority, and the thought of dying for his faith did not sway him from remaining faithful (Acts). This is the way our lives should be: with God as our first love and number one priority, we will 1) choose to follow Him wherever He may lead, and 2) not hinder those dear to us from serving Him. Rather, we can encourage them in the work.

In the end, we will see that the temporal pleasures that we would have gained in this life by our selfish desires do not even compare to the joys of heaven. It is because of Him that we can all meet again in eternity—in a perfect world void of evil, sorrows, pain, fear, and separation.