Goodbye rarely feels like a gift, sometimes it feels like a curse, like an ending we never saw coming or emptiness we didn’t anticipate. We often cling to what’s familiar, even when it no longer serves us. Like a relationship that drains us, a friendship that no longer serves us or a dream that quietly died years ago. Letting go of what we once wanted feels impossible until you’re faced with the harsh reality that this is the only choice. You’re forced to let go. 

But what if some goodbyes are actually God’s mercy in disguise? What if the very thing that broke your heart is the thing that saved your soul?

It’s easy to see a closed door as punishment, but sometimes, it’s God’s protection. It’s his way of redirecting you to something better. It’s his way of saving you from further pain, even if it takes years to see it. The job you didn’t get, the relationship that didn’t work, the friend who walked away, it may have hurt, but God saw something you didn’t. He knew what was happening behind closed doors and he decided to remove you from a situation that wasn’t right for you. 

And as painful as it is, that goodbye might be the very thing you needed to heal, to remember what it’s like to love yourself again, to remember what it is that you actually deserve, to remember that life isn’t defined by certain people or certain goals and to remember that you can survive on your own, no matter how attached you were. Sometimes God can’t bring the better until we release the good we were trying to hold together.

It takes time to see the gift of a goodbye. At first it hurts, then it heals, it refines, it builds wisdom and strength. It teaches you the importance of boundaries and standards. The goodbyes you never wanted may become the greatest blessings you’ve ever known. So if you’re standing in the middle of a loss right now, don’t rush past it. Sit with it. Let God guide you through it. Because a goodbye written by God is never the end of your story, it’s actually a gift that makes room for a much better chapter.