8.16- Searching for Tracks Ron Rose

8.16-

Searching for Tracks Ron Rose

At the funeral service for a person named Robin, one of the preachers stood up and proclaimed in an old fashioned preacher voice, "We are not here because Robin died. Hear me! Did you hear me? We are here because she Lived--she LIVED."

We were united in celebration of life, but that doesn't mean the grievers wanted to be there. I venture to say, not one wanted to be there, but they were.

It was hot and muggy and midweek and the beleaguered mourners there gathered, united in grief. They wanted Robin back, they wanted to be somewhere else, they wanted the hole in their hearts filled, but the preacher called them to an adventure beyond their sadness, to a walk with God through the valley, to a relationship with the God who created life . . .The preacher pointed the people beyond themselves and the loss.

It was good to be there. But, it reminded me of an old Aesop’s fable. "A frightened hunter was searching for the tracks of a bear. He came across a woodsman chopping down a huge oak tree and asked him if he had seen any bear tracks during the day."

"'Oh yea,' said the man, 'not only have I seen the tracks, I can show you the bear. I know right where he is.'”

"The hunter, turning very pale, whispered, 'No thank you. I'm only looking for the tracks; I don't really want to find the bear.'”

I wondered how many of the people in that church were even looking for the tracks, much less the bear.

The preacher said, "Now is the time to see Him. He is the God of ALL comfort."

I see people all the time who are playing it safe, studying the tracks, over and over, but staying away from the bear. The bear is dangerous, wild, risky, and unknown . . . But, once you've seen him, you can't ever unsee him.

He even changes death. You begin to see him everywhere, even at funerals.

Abba, thank you for being so patient with us... and for replacing death with LIFE!

John 17.

17 Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, ² even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to ^[a]all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. ³ This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.