Earthly Loss as Heavenly Gain

Grief over  the loss of a loved one through abandonment, betrayal, or separation should not be overwhelmingly devastating. A person who has been given the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ must know by now that everything on earth is ephemeral, changing, passing: here today, gone tomorrow. God gives us a good thing and He takes it away. We fiddle with sin and He chastises us: We value earthly  pleasures; we hold on to the creature rather than the Creator and He removes from us these objects of our wrong loyalties and inordinate affections. As He is our Sovereign God and Heavenly Father, we can consider earthly loss as heavenly gain.

“Oh what grace must be in your hearts to enable you to renounce what the world so madly pursues and what your own nature so fondly loves!” J.C. Philpot

“Our affections may be taking hold on some earthly idol -- so that for our safety, God must set this idol on fire! The eye may become too attracted by something of the world. That object grows as a thick mist between us and God, so that we can no longer see Him. Seeing our danger, the Lord in His faithfulness to us -- sets fire to that object, and by the light  of that fire – we can see our way back to God!” Charles Orr

“God our Maker, God the Almighty Chastener, is said to give “songs in the night.” No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” John McDuff