Goodbye in the Kingdom is Never Goodbye

When he had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.  After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Cos. Acts 20:36-21:1

Change does not come easy for most people. However God’s Kingdom is always changing because the true Kingdom of God is always growing! John 3:8 teaches us, “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”. We should not be surprised, nor should we resist the changes which come through God’s Holy Spirit. These changes are always in the best interest of the salvation of the billions around the world.
Good-bye’s are such a difficult part of life. When Paul set sail for Cos, they all knew they would never see him again. But, with us, we get to see each other at conferences, special events, etc. While saying good bye does not get any easier because we are disciples, we get to experience something in saying good-bye that no one in the world can experience.
God has the unique ability to be in a constant state of feeling the deepest love, the most profound sadness, the most intense anger, and a fulfilling encouragement all at the same time. As disciples we get to participate in this and feel some of the same feelings that God feels during these brief moments of change! Only in the Kingdom of God can this miracle happen. It eventually becomes one of the best parts of being a disciple!
The most awesome part about saying goodbye is that in God’s Kingdom, saying goodbye to one very good friend always means saying hello to a new one. 1 Corinthians 12:18-24 says, “But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment.” When we have a good friend move away we are especially aware of how much we need that person in our life. But, we can easily forget that we need have just as much need for the new people God is injecting into our lives. Let us embrace these changes truly as what they are – changes from God. He will not give us more than we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13) and he has plans to prosper us (Jeremiah 29:11). Remember God picks the exact place where men should live so they will seek him. Let’s seek him, understand his plan and know that in the Kingdom Goodbyes are not really goodbye. It’s see you at the GLC!