Temporary Blindness

I was in the high desert near Taos NM recently. I was especially looking forward to gazing into the night sky since we were staying in a special location outside the little town. I live in the eastern US so my usual environment has lots of trees, humidity, ambient light and clouds to obscure the view of the night sky. In Taos, I expected that nothing would obscure the stars from my gaze. Well, my plan was foiled because it was the week of the full moon. The brightness of the moon obscured the stars even more than the conditions in the east. Just like at home, I could only see about half a dozen stars. Not very impressive.

Grief is like that. Something obscures the view. The pain of grief can obscure the big picture that the Lord is present with you and that eternity awaits His people. The intensity of the pain is like the bright moon. The reality of the depth and complexity of eternity is like the whole universe that we see as stars in the sky.

The stars are always there even when we can’t see them. They are still obeying God’s plan and keeping their places in space. They are still representing the constellations they have occupied for ages.   The facts of eternity are always true even when we can’t see them. Heaven still obeys God’s will and occupies its place in God’s plan for His saints.

All the true things are still true, even now, though they may be hard to keep in view because of the grief you are feeling. You can trust the Lord to be Himself all day every day, no matter how difficult it is for you to see or feel it right now. He is the Lord God Almighty who is a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, even your grief.   

The heavens declare the glory of God;    the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech;    night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words;    no sound is heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,    their words to the ends of the world.  The law of the LORD is perfect,    refreshing the soul... The decrees of the LORD are firm,    and all of them are righteous. Psalm 19:1-4, 7, 9.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Hebrews 13:8.