Facing Death

Yesterday was not an easy day for me. I don’t like saying goodbye to friends. I felt his departure all day, and truth is, I didn’t want to face it. After a quick shower I headed to the hospital to face what the Bible calls our last enemy. He can look mean and scary and has no respecter of persons. For me it has been one of the difficult parts of being a Christian minister. Goodbyes are not easy. They always remind me of how temporary life is, a fleeting vapor, here today and gone tomorrow. Walking into my friends room I knew he would be leaving soon. I always feel so helpless, so powerless but God’s word is not powerless. I quoted Paul’s words which always bring hope to me, But as it is written: Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him." 1Cor 2:9
I know death does not have the final say, God does. Death is a reality but there is another reality and that reality fills us with “His” hope. In these difficult moments we must have eyes of faith, we must see with our spiritual eyes, we must hear with spiritual ears. Our Lord has spoken clearly to these goodbye moments. “Because I live you shall live also” For all of us in His family the goodbyes are only temporary. We have reunion to look forward to. I told my friend I loved him and then we prayed for our Lord to take him home The angels must have been close by because in a few minutes I watched him take his last breath in this world saw in my spirit a glorious entry into glory. I am trying hard to always remember the two views, the earthly view and the heavenly view. This world sees only in one dimension, the now, the physical, and if that is all you can see you are missing the most important part. The eternal, the lasting, the no more pain part, the no more dying part, the enter into the joys of the Lord part. Oh Lord, living in a world that is passing away, help us to focus on the eternal. jfs