Have you ever felt close to a fictional character? Perhaps it’s the way they talk or make you laugh or help you feel less alone. But then, when the inevitable time comes for the show or series to end, you’re left feeling empty inside, like you are losing a real friend. Whoever the character is, they make you feel seen or cared about in some strange, unexplainable way.
If you’ve shed a tear or lost a night’s sleep over a fictional character, you’re in good company. Perhaps it’s the increased accessibility to media or the fact that people feel lonelier than ever these days, but losing a character who makes you valued can be heartbreaking.
However, if you’ve shared this experience, you may have also felt silly for getting upset by someone “not real”. Yet these feelings are more valid than you might realize.
After spending the past couple years far away from loved ones and living through our screens, it’s only natural for our minds to merge our “real” relationships with our “on-screen” ones. The awesome thing about technology is how we are able to connect with people from all over the world. However, that also means many of our relationships are long distance, and our sense of reality gets altered.
Therefore, when our brains convince us that these characters are real friends, we feel like we’re experiencing a real loss. This may trigger past experiences of ending a relationship, losing a loved one, or having a source of security become unstable.
You are free to feel grief when a source of comfort is lost or a season has come to an end.
But, we don’t have to stay stuck in those feelings.
We have someone very real, despite also not being tangible, who is right here with us. And, you guessed it, Jesus is the best source of comfort.
Jesus doesn’t change. He will always be loving and powerful and patient. He will always be there for you, no matter what you are going through or what you’re feeling.
Just think about that for a moment: Jesus doesn’t ever change. We can’t even fathom that because everything–our Earth, our society, our loved ones, us–change. And that’s what makes us crave comfort or stability.
But Jesus promises that He will be faithful to the end and even after the end. He wants us to cling to Him when we feel afraid or unloved or isolated. Jesus will remind us that He is our source of courage and He paid the ultimate sacrifice to be there for us. We are never alone.
So today, don’t feel guilty for whatever you’re feeling. Instead, bring all these complicated emotions to God and allow yourself to feel comforted knowing that there will always be one thing that never changes.
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Hebrews 13:8
The Will to Wake Up 