Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
I missed sending out an Encouraging Word last week due to the passing of my mother-in-law. She was laid to rest in her hometown of Lynchburg, VA last Thursday amidst an outpouring of love from family and friends. These events tend to get one thinking, and I’ve spent a lot of time doing that the last few days.
Like most of you, I’ve experienced several seasons of significant change in my life, seldom of my choosing and usually accompanied with pain and a great sense of loss. I’ve lost both parents, a wife, and now two mothers-in-law, milestones which became before-and-after marker points in my life. Like anyone else, I’ve also gone through career changes, relationship changes, moving, and coped with changes around me.
Whether it’s as simple as a favorite restaurant closing or a television show you have faithfully watched for years coming to an end, a friend moving away or a friendship ending in a dispute, a layoff from your job or moving to your dream house, change, even desirable ones, is often unsettling.
So why does God, the one who promises us comfort and peace, allow our lives to get shuffled, confusing, and painful? Why does He allow us to lose things in our life that bring comfort and pleasure and require us to adjust to new situations? Why does he allow loved ones, people we count on as reliable anchors of love and support, to die?
These questions weren’t as difficult with losing Brenda’s mom as they can sometimes be—she was 88 years old and had become frail and weak. When she suffered a major stroke last week, it wasn’t hard to see the end coming quickly. As I listened to dozens of people talk about how Mary Evelyn Smith had touched their lives, it was clear that, despite her advance age, her passing would leave significant holes in the lives of many friends and family members. How could they cope with this sudden separation?
By remembering, as Paul wrote to the Corinthians, that everything in the flesh is temporary. Everything and everyone around us will cease to exist in the natural at some point. Everything and everyone. If I stopped there, I’d have to rename this note “Discouraging Words.” Fortunately, though, we are promised that this temporary existence, this season, will be overshadowed by the glory that awaits our eternal souls in heaven. When Brenda’s mom reached heaven’s gates, she felt no pain, no weakness, and could bask in the glory of our creator! She could be reunited with her husband, who preceded her by 25 years, and a large contingent of her family.
We all have a homecoming like that to look forward to. Sometimes, perhaps often, it is hard to count on much on this earth but we can count on what waits for us when our spirits cross over.
The tone of Mary Evelyn’s funeral service was very evangelistic. She wanted nothing more than for all four of her daughters and all of her family and friends to know Jesus and meet her up in heaven when the time came. The preacher gave that message, and Brenda added to it in words that her mother could have written for her. I’m not sure if there is a better goal we can have in our lives than to help everyone we love to know Jesus, and Brenda’s mom was, in a way, still doing that beyond the grave.
Are there people we love, that are a major or even minor part of our lives, who may not know the Lord? Do you know people who you’re not sure you would meet in heaven? I bet you do. Have you thought of how you can help them make the connection? Are you living a life that makes someone want what you have, that makes The Way look like a path they would want to follow? Do you ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to opportunities to share what Jesus has meant to you and what He has done in your life?
Are you waiting until it’s “convenient?” James write in James 4:14 “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”
Our souls are promised eternity if we have accepted Jesus as our savior, but our earthly bodies are not promised tomorrow. I encourage you to make each day count. Live in a way that causes the glory of the Lord to reflect from you and light the path for others to walk with Him.
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