The End?
I usually enjoy seeing my Facebook memories. They remind me of happy times with family and friends and help me keep track of when various plants bloom from year to year. But sometimes the memories are painful. Such was the case when a post from January 2021 appeared. In it, I informed friends and family of Mom's leg pain and asked those reading the post to please pray for wisdom regarding a proper diagnosis and treatment.
What I didn't know when I posted the request, but am now woefully aware of, is that three short months later, Mom would no longer be with us. She endured far greater suffering in those final months, especially in her last ten days after she broke her hip.
I recently came across a list of folks to pray for that I wrote more than a year ago. While some on the list have recovered and are doing well, four are now with the Lord, fully healed like Mom, but oh how we miss them.
My husband, Ray, passed away 29 years ago, a few weeks after his 39th birthday. He went to work on a beautiful spring day, suffered a fatal heart attack, and never came home.
With each passing year, I know how life ended for more and more close friends and relatives. Life after the Fall is fragile indeed.
I don't know what my end-of-life story will look like, but I know my end will come, too, unless Jesus returns first. Since losing Mom and Dad, I've been more aware of my own mortality and of being the senior generation in my family.
Somewhere in the recesses of my mind, I try to deny death. Yet having a front-row seat to my parents' final months makes denial impossible. They were both capable, independent, hardworking people well into their 80s. Nevertheless, the ravages of age finally caught up with them, as they will with me unless my end comes quickly, as Ray's did.
LIFE-GIVING ENCOURAGEMENT
During Ray's funeral, one of the pastors declared, "For believers, death is not the end, beloved. It is a most glorious beginning!"
Over the years, that statement has become a touchstone for me. Losing a loved one always hurts because death separates us. We long for one more conversation, one more Starbucks date, one more stroll around the neighborhood, sadly recognizing that those one-mores aren't possible.
Yet we grieve with hope, knowing the separation is only temporary. Our believing loved ones are safely Home. Their end here was only the beginning of life in eternity. They will not return to us, but one day we will join them and the great throng around the throne, praising the Lamb forever and ever.
Each day, I pray for those who are grieving recent losses, often adding, "All of us are missing someone, Lord. Please be with us, too."
The raw pain of loss gradually recedes, replaced by a deep soul-sigh of longing that endures until it's our turn to go Home. In my experience, we never stop missing our loved ones. So I'll conclude this post with some of my favorite Scripture passages, those I turn to when I need the assurance that death is not the end but a most glorious beginning for those who love the Lord. I pray they will comfort your heart, too.
In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
John 14:2-3
But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (Emphasis mine.)
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place[a] of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
Revelation 21:1-5
PRAYER
Dear Lord, thank You for the absolute assurance that for those who belong to Jesus, death is not the end but a most glorious beginning. Our finite minds can't imagine what it will be like to gather around Your throne, but we know we will be there with You because You've promised. Amen.
Patsy Kuipers - Patsy often refers to herself as “Gardening Grammie,” a title encompassing two of her favorite pastimes. Widowed at age 38, she was blessed to be gainfully employed for all the years she spent raising two daughters on her own. When the corporation she worked for eliminated her job after a 30-year career, she returned to school to study horticulture, a passion born of caring for the garden her husband left as part of his legacy. Patsy relishes teaching her three grandchildren about plants and the One who created them, weaving stories of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness into their time together. She is a member of Grace Covenant Church in Dallas, Georgia, where she serves as an advisor to the Women’s Ministry Committee and leads women’s Bible studies. Patsy blogs at Back 2 the Garden (patsykuipers.com) to encourage others with the hope of the Gospel. She offers the same encouragement in her book, Be Still: Quiet Moments with God in My Garden. When she’s not writing or playing in the dirt, Patsy enjoys catching up with friends over a strong cup of tea.
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Sharon W. Betters is a mother, grandmother, great-grandmother, pastor’s wife, and cofounder of MARKINC Ministries, where she is the Director of Resource Development. Sharon is the author of several books, including Treasures of Encouragement, Treasures in Darkness, and co-author with Susan Hunt of Aging with Grace. She is the co-host of the Help & Hope podcast and writes Daily Treasure, an online devotional.
Contact Sharon with comments or questions at dailytreasure@markinc.org.