WE ARE STRANGERS ON EARTH

WE ARE STRANGERS ON EARTH.

Two weeks ago on Thursday, at about eight o’ clock in the morning, I got the news of the homegoing of one of my mum’s friends. She was in her late eighties. In less than thirty minutes, I got the news of another Homegoing,  this time of a close family friend, he was sixty six years old. By the evening of that same day, I got the news that a member of my mum’s church had also passed on. All this in one day.

As if that was not enough, on Monday morning of the following week, I heard the news of the passing of an auntie, she was seventy-one and then on Tuesday morning, the very next day, I heard the news of the passing of a young woman who was a fellow parishioner. She was forty-two.
My first thoughts were, “What’s going on? Why so many deaths in such a short space of time?”  Before I could into deeper thought, I was reminded that we are all pilgrims here. At that, I calmed down. 

May the souls of the faithful departed rest in peace. And I pray that God will strengthen and uphold all families that grieve at this time and that the Holy Spirit will comfort them too.

My brothers and sisters, death is not the end of it all. All our dear departed ones have finished their sojourn here on earth and have moved on to their eternity. Where will our own eternity be? Heaven or Hell? Earth is not our home dear friends. “We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace.”  1 Chronicles 29:15 NLT
That is what the Word of God says. No one will live on earth forever. Some have gone and been long forgotten, others are a dim memory, and yet some have made their marks to be remembered for years to come. But everyone will go home. 

Please note that the young and old alike can be called home at any time but we stand on the Word of God that says  “With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation” Psalm. 91:16 KJV

I come to encourage anyone who has been berieved, to please not focus on death. We must watch our thoughts and choose not to feel hopeless,  My oldest brother went home to be with the LORD, eleven years ago. I was broken, shattered and very sad. But what eventually kept me going were memories.
I made a very conscious effort to always remember him as the vibrant, lively person that he was.  We let talks of him and also of my late dad, flow easily into family conversations, sometimes wondering how they would react about something that happened or just remembering some of the things we did together as a family. This made it easier for us to cope as a family. That is not to say that we do not miss them. We definitely do. 
My father never got to meet my husband and my son as I was single when he passed. I miss that but I do not dwell on it. And I share fond memories of him with them. My son proudly refers to him as “my grandpa” even though he never met him. 

Only the living can praise God, therefore while we still have our breath we must be praising God. Let us live our best lives now by always appreciating God for all He has done for us. There is peace in the place of gratitude. I have found that it is not possible to be in a place of gratitude and be filled with anxiety at the same time. 

God has been good to us.
And even in the midst of whatever we are passing through, there is always an opportunity to be thankful to God.

Everyone is on this earth journey.
We will all go home some day.
But while we are here we should not live as if we will be here forever. What are we stashing away for our eternal home?
The three C’s (CARS, CASH, CLOTHES) do not get to go there. Whatever we do for the kingdom of God is what will count.

THEN ONE DAY, WE WILL GO HOME! 

OLUYINKA EGO-MARTINS ©