Walking Through the Shadow of Death Heaven, Not Yet

Walking Through the Shadow of Death

Heaven, Not Yet

I think all of us have had those days where we did not feel like living

Days when we might have said

 “God if heaven is so wonderful what are you waiting for?” 

But who knows maybe the days to come are priceless

And better than all the years you have already lived

Or, maybe there is someone, a daughter, son, spouse, or stranger

Who will say you made a priceless difference in their life

If you are going to be alive

 LIVE don’t waste a moment on anger, or feeling sorry for yourself

Even if those days are in hospice or some other unpleasant place

God wants to be Lord of your bad days as well as your good ones

Heaven, Not Yet

Judy had a goal to speak individually to

each of her children and grandchild and

after giving them her words of love and

encouragement, Judy was ready to die.

Judy was in the hospice home and she had

spoken to each one of her family members…

Four children, their spouses, 12 grandchildren

and one future grandson-in-law, 21 people in all.

The church worship team was called in.

Family and friends all gathered in her

hospice room and we worshiped the Lord.

The presence of the Lord was strong.

There was not a dry eye in the room.

After about 30 minutes of worship,

 the music stopped.

Judy began to pray…

“Thank you for my wonderful grandchildren,

thank you for my wonderful children and their spouses,

and thank you for the most wonderful man in the world;

 the husband I don’t know what I would have done without.”

 

Those words were although directed to God

 in prayer, were directed to each family member.

The power in the room was overwhelming.

 The words of good bye to those she greatly loved

and the hope of being in the presence of the Lord.

After the prayer with her eyes open to

everyone in the room and her eyes open to heaven,

 the guitarist began to play “I Can Only Imagine”.

As we sung and imagined what heaven would

be like you could see Judy’s expectation,
the sounds from the strings on the

guitar change to the strings of harps.

It was like Judy could feel the pull of

heaven and wanted to go with all her heart.

At one point her husband, Mike, and

daughter-in-law, Stacy, who were closest

to her saw her stop breathing and was  

sure she had gone to be with the Lord.

As perfect as the setting was to leave this earth

and enter into heaven, it was not the time.

Neither, Judy nor any of us had the control to

walk from that moment into the arms of Jesus.

 After the room had cleared that night, I knew

the disappointment Judy had was troubling her.

Disappointed that Jesus did not take her,

 the timing in all our eyes was perfect and

there was a sense that God missed it.

I tried to speak a few short words of comfort

to her and although she gave no response

I could see she took in those words.

The next morning you could see Judy

was angry that God had not taken her.

Loved ones tried to comfort her

but she would not be comforted.

The nurse practitioner came in

with news Judy did not want to hear.

She said hospice was making

arrangements for her to go home.

 

Judy spoke out in anger not wanting to go.

The nurse tried to comfort her and shared

her story of when her dad was in hospice.

She said her dad was taking 3 breaths

per minute and the family was called in.

They said good bye that night and did not

expect him to be with them in the morning.

  

But he was and 3 days later he went home.

She said every other day for one

year she took her dad fishing.

I asked her the question…

 “What would you give for that last year?”

She said something profound…

It was priceless, the last year was better

than her whole life of being with him.

God could not have brought

a more timely word to Judy.

After the nurse left, I spoke to Judy about

the nurses words, although she was still angry

I could see she respected my words.

A short time later Judy, who had been

refusing to eat, asked for some food.

It became evident to me her attitude was changing.

An attitude that said if I am going

to be alive I am going to live.

I think all of us have had those days

where we did not feel like living.

Days when we might have said…

 “God, if heaven is so wonderful what are you waiting for?”

 

But who knows, maybe the days to come are priceless

and better than all the years you have already lived.

Or, maybe there is someone like the nurse,

a daughter or someone else who will say you

made a priceless difference in their life.

If you are going to be alive…

 LIVE don’t waste a moment on anger, or

 feeling sorry for yourself, even if those days

are in hospice or some other unpleasant place.

God wants to be Lord of your bad

days as well as your good ones.

As we continued to sit with Judy in her

dying days, we realize they were priceless.

Even though she felt powerless to get out of bed and

slept all night and most of the day, I can see God

used her to make priceless moments in the lives of others.

Scripture Reading

John 7:6-9 NIV

6 Therefore Jesus told them, "The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. 7 The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. 8 You go to the Feast. I am not yet  going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come."

John 7:30-31 NIV

30 At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come. 31 Still, many in the crowd put their faith in him.

John 20:17 NIV

17 Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" 

Romans 8:24-25 NIV

24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

Hebrews 11:7 NIV

7 By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

1 John 3:2-3 NIV

2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.