Life Without Mother

Dear Friend,

There’s for sure a light at the end of the tunnel. The question is perhaps, which tunnel… or which light? Sometimes it’s that “light” that people tell us not to “walk towards”…

As you probably well know, many of my past letters have reflected my own deep longing for that final Light at the end of this tunnel of life. Even as I heard discussed on a podcast just the other day, from the Christian’s perspective in knowing the glory of eternal life after death and that blessed promise of no tears in that wonderful Home — it’s honestly a wonder that more of us don’t struggle with suicidal ideation.¹

Yet, as I’ve wrestled through and realized from both experience and His word, it’s the very same promise of eternal life that keeps me going here in a world of death.

I think Paul puts it beautifully succinct in his letter to the Philippians:

I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.²

Even Paul wrestles with the tension of longing for Home but seeing the calling of Christ upon his life to serve the needs of His Church and the world. He continues to ground his assurance of bodily life in the work he was called to in both evangelism and the discipleship of the churches.

Thus, his life was grounded by service. By sacrifice. That is the now sacrifice of the believer — to continue on in this world doing the faithful work of that to which Christ has called us and prepared in advance for us to do.³

And by His abundant grace, He also uses this work (and daily wrestling) to sanctify us all the more in our resemblance of Him as His completed work when we reach that eternal Home.⁴

Sanctification is the light at the end of these smaller tunnels of suffering in life. We walk through the valleys of the shadow of death into the light of revelation: how the LORD has made us more like Him. New (and often far deeper) understanding of His revealed word to us as it becomes the very water and life He promised it would be to us.⁵

Friend, I’m in a season of emergence from a long tunnel into new light. Seeing the immensity of my sin for what it is, seeing His grace in its overwhelming abundance unto me! For He reveals our sin that we may walk in righteousness and experience that amazing love that turns our hearts from darkness to His light!

Ever emerging anew,
Hannah

1. Revelation 21 ↩︎
2. Philippians 1:20-24 ↩︎
3. Ephesians 2:10 ↩︎
4. Philippians 1:6; Romans 6:5-14 ↩︎
5. John 6:25-65; Deuteronomy 8:3/Matthew 4:4; Isaiah 55:11; 2 Timothy 3:16-17 ↩︎