We all have to navigate our way through life, trying to avoid the rocks and reefs that would cause us to shipwreck. Of all the fears that dog us, however, the big one behind them all is the fear of dying and death. We talk to mourners at funerals about their loss and say how sorry we are.

The resurrection of Jesus turns that narrative inside out. Only Jesus can change dread to joyful anticipation, turn weeping into smiling, and turn grief into hope. Only Jesus can help us look past the certain signs of defeat—the cold, still body; casket; vault; headstone—and see victory. 

The apostle Paul loved his life and spent himself trying to tell everyone he met about the Savior. He loved the congregations he founded and exhausted himself in his travels trying to visit them all. But he knew that his real life was still coming, and he was anxious with anticipation of the glory to come: “Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. For we live by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:6,7).

Faith in Christ sustains us in all our times of loss and suffering. As we age, things are taken away from us—friends who pass away, our youth, energy, strength, our mobility, memory, hair, hearing, and clarity of eyesight—but those losses only mark the approaching reunion with our Creator and Redeemer. 

The best is yet to come.