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For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down

 (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body),

 we will have a home in heaven,

 an eternal body made for us by God himself 

and not by human hands. 

2 Corinthians 5:1 (NLT) 

Just a few days ago our neighbors lost their thirteen year old son to cancer.  This is the second time in my life that I have known a thirteen year old boy who has died from this devastating disease.  Each was a sweet and kind child. How is it that such a young body could be filled with such destruction and pain?  How is it that a life could be cut so short?  It is so hard to understand.  It is beyond our comprehension. The grief of the parents and family is overwhelming.

Death and loss are very real experiences in this life.  When things are going along smoothly and care free we don't think about it much, but the fact is our lives here are only temporary.  "This world is not my home. I'm just passing through." as the old song says.  

The time we have here on earth is a gift from God.  But this earth is not our final home.  There are many good things here, but there is also much sorrow, strife and pain. Our bodies are weak and continually decaying. When we come to terms with that fact, it completely changes our perspective.  The grief and sadness of death do not change, but we can accept it as part of the life process and as a door into our eternal destiny. 

With this change of perspective, we will see that our purpose here on earth is not to settle in but to learn and grow - to learn how to love.   Every experience is only a stepping stone moving us toward our true destiny.  Life experiences here fit us for the real life to come and when the time comes to drop our human bodies it will be only an entrance into the beauties of that eternal life.

What about those two beautiful boys who left us too soon.  We don't know why they had to go, but we know that they have entered into their new life of joy and beauty a little sooner than most of us.  I know God has a lot more work to do in me and I look at every moment as a preparation for that day when I will enter into that beautiful place and see all the things God has in store for me forever.  

We do not grieve as those who have no hope. (1 Thes. 4:13)

That is why we never give up. 

Though our bodies are dying,

our spirits are being renewed every day.

 For our present troubles are small 

and won’t last very long.

 Yet they produce for us a glory 

that vastly outweighs them

 and will last forever!

So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now;

 rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen.

 For the things we see now will soon be gone, 

but the things we cannot see will last forever. 

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NLT)