I wrote this two weeks ago after learning about the death of the Chadwick Boseman. Since it’s been a few weeks, I almost didn’t publish this but realize that this message resonates beyond this one KING, the message hits home for ANY dearly beloved and departed person in your life. The Word calls us to mourn with those who mourn (Romans 12:15) so if you are reading this and struggling with the physical absence of someone due to death, I am there with you and so is our God. I hope these words give some level of comfort. Thanks for reading!
The importance of NOW
A while ago, I would be so numb… I was so passive when death was happening all around me. When I heard people say “God makes no mistakes”, I never REALLY paid attention to the phrase. They are just words, after all, right? When these life-changing events would happen all around me, I would not pray, I would not seek understanding of the situation. I would simply just moved on.
Now, I feel it all. I sit still. I listen. I seek.
And as I sit this morning after strolling through my newsfeed and trying to make sense of the death of Chadwick Boseman.. King T’Challa, here I am feeling a range of emotions. I am sad. I am confused. I am deeply hurt. Yet, I am also immensely inspired. And it is at these moments, that I can feel my faith shifting a bit. Because so much of what I have in these moments are questions. I, like so many others, need answers. We need comfort. We need to know what to make of these situations.
Let me dig a little….
Now, I have goals… and I think they are aligned with what God has for my life, but when things like this happen, I sometimes don’t know what to make of them. It makes me stop and wonder if my desires are TRULY what God would have for me. I DO know that my DAILY goal.. my DAILY desire is for God to move in my life. And can I tell you that after sitting still today… after allowing myself to feel the range of emotions, I am able to listen a little closer at how the death of such an icon hit home for me (and probably you too)!
Let me dig a little deeper….
On the one hand, I am angry. This man… this king…lived a life that (from the outside looking in) was a wholesome life. He was not caught up in the drama that comes from being a celebrity. I do not know if he had a wife, or kids, he was not in the media. No scandals. He was a superhero! I am angry because when I look at the height of his career, 2016 was not that long ago. Some sources said he had only been in the spotlight for eight years. And in either case, the whole time thing is upsetting to me. At 43 years old, I wonder how many of those years he truly got to enjoy. From the outside looking in, what should have been the best moments of his life…coming off the hype of some major moves in his career, he undoubtable spend some of these years in a lot of pain. I do not know how he lived his last years-months-weeks-days, but it causes me to stop and think. What does this mean for us?
You see, I felt this hurt at the beginning of the year when Kobe Bryant died and I feel it every time a retiree from my school system dies and the county sends a condolences email. The email always shares how the person contributed to the community and includes the year they retired. You know, school employees spend about 30 years (if not more) in the school system. For some of the retirees, in the most recent ones… they died within 4-5 years after retirement. As for Kobe, well no need to rehash things, but we all remember how SHOOK the world was with his passing.
In each of these situations… I think to myself how unfair this seems. With such promise, such talent… and how these people completely captured the heart of the world or the community in which they were a part of. WHY would something ugly, so gruesome, so heartbreak as DEATH take them out so… suddenly? It is hard to truly grasp that someone could work so hard for so many years of life to ultimately face death before truly having to reap the benefits of that success. And so again, I wonder, what could this mean?
I am emotional right now because I thought I had dealt with the idea of mortality. I know that we cannot live forever. I recognized some time ago that praying to keep people alive…. when it’s beyond God’s will for their life, praying to always have good days, and praying to keep bad things from happening… These are not always effective prayers to make because these things are inevitable. I began to realize I needed to pray for strengthen to be able to handle whatever came my way. With that prayer, I began to see my mindset shift. More and more, I began to see that God was truly the only way I would be able to deal with these life-changing situations. I began to go to him for strengthen and understanding.
Death reminds me that this is something that unites us… we all must do it. Yes, I had dealt with the idea of mortality, but what has hit home with me this year is the idea of LIFE. That’s right, with so much that 2020 has brought our way, so much death, ask yourself if you have dealt with the concept of LIFE! We cannot to reach a certain destination before we decide it is time to LIVE. We cannot wait until we become millionaires to start that business, we cannot wait until we retire to take that vacation. And this year for me, taught me that I cannot wait until I am old and gray or on my death bed to chase after God. Throughout our lives, we must strive to live like him each and every day. We must live, act, think in ways that allow people to see the love of Christ THROUGH US! I do not know if Chadwick publicly declared a love for Jesus Christ, but perhaps he lived in a way that God calls us all to live.
And so today, I was emotional. I was sad. I was confused. I was angry. I was deeply hurt.
And so I became still. I listened. I sought (and still seeking) understanding. Through that time, I was able to truly understand and reflect on just how and why God makes no mistakes.
Understanding #1- God’ timing is not our timing: What seems like only a short amount of time in the spotlight was JUST the amount of time for Chadwick’s life to mean so much to so many people. We have to trust God’s plan and not simply work on our own plan/timeline. We have to use our time on this earth to draw closer to Him because you truly never know when your time will be up! Each new day and every second of the day is a chance to draw closer to God and to inspire others in our walk.
Understanding #2- God does not promise us a life without suffering: Following Christ does not guarantee a life of just good things. Things will get hard and there will be pain. We have to lean to HIM for peace, comfort, and understanding when these things surface in our lives. He allows for these things to happen. Sometimes our life, death or suffering is not just for us… but for others to be a witness of it all as well because it calls THEM to move. Through personal sufferings, we learn to lean on him to get us through and to give him the glory when we come out on the other side.
And now, I am even more inspired.
My Truth and Honor 