A dear friend of mine passed away last month going home to be with the Lord. The loss is one that many will bear for some time. For many of us this life will now be a lot sadder and the days that pass a bit darker, if you will, because they are gone. Heaven on the other hand will be a bit brighter because its shining star has now gone home. It is a truth that our loss is heaven’s gain. As the cloud of grief over shadows us they will shine more in heaven as our friend reaps in the blessings of heavens glory. One day soon grief will give way to memory and the light that they once were will return to us in loving thought and recollection.
Life is a beautiful gift from the heart and mind of God. How much greater is that gift when we return to Him “Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:7). This world dims in the light of eternity and eternity shines in the light of the one who has gone home.
Will they be missed? Absolutely
Will they always be a part of our life? No doubt
Will they always have a place in our heart? Most definitely
Will they ever know the impact that they had on our life? Most assuredly for one day we too will go home to be with Christ and to spend eternity together with them. Then the other half shall be told.
God tells us in Scripture that the passing of a saint is precious to Him, "Precious int he sight of the LORD Is the death of His saints (Psalm 116:15). Their death is precious because He can now receive them home from all their wanderings. As an earthly father we rejoice when we receive our children home after an absence. When one of our children is even the smallest bit over due we begin to fret because any absence can bring thoughts and illusions of many dangers that exist in our world today. With this thought in mind we must think of how much more shall God rejoice to receive his children home? He loves his children far better then than we can imagine. He knows that their suffering is now over and that their sorrow is past.
Their passing allows Him the opportunity to truly display for them the sufficiency of His overeign grace. How do we know this? Because the passing saint goes directly into the arms of the Lord, “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:8). We are saddened for a time yes, but part of that sorrow is an extension of the desire that we too have to be with Him. They are with Christ, the one that they loved and the one that truly loved and cared for them.
We are confident from the Scripture that the LORD takes special notice of His children and cares for us in a special manner. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1). “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you…” (Isaiah 43:2) Just to mention a few. Then we find in Psalm 116:15, “Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His saints.” This should be precious to us as well. This statement from God brings before us an aspect of death that which we sometimes fail to consider. It gives us a glimpse of what may be termed the God-minded view of the subject. We cannot contemplate death as a final thought, which is an earthly view, taken solely from our perspective. This passage opens up the heart of the Lord showing us from His viewpoint of Heaven. In the eyes of the Lord the death of a saint is not horrible but “precious.” Precious because that which is His is now going home to ever be with Him. We must learn to rejoice as David did with the passing of a loved one as found in 2 Samuel 23:23, “But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I
bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”
We do pray for their family and all the friends that the Lord God will flood their hearts, minds and thoughts with memories and that His presence will overshadow them during this time of grief.
Life is a beautiful gift from the heart and mind of God. How much greater is that gift when we return to Him “Then the dust will return to the earth as it was, and the spirit will return to God who gave it.” (Ecclesiastes 12:7). This world dims in the light of eternity and eternity shines in the light of the one who has gone home.
Will they be missed? Absolutely
Will they always be a part of our life? No doubt
Will they always have a place in our heart? Most definitely
Will they ever know the impact that they had on our life? Most assuredly for one day we too will go home to be with Christ and to spend eternity together with them. Then the other half shall be told.
God tells us in Scripture that the passing of a saint is precious to Him, "Precious int he sight of the LORD Is the death of His saints (Psalm 116:15). Their death is precious because He can now receive them home from all their wanderings. As an earthly father we rejoice when we receive our children home after an absence. When one of our children is even the smallest bit over due we begin to fret because any absence can bring thoughts and illusions of many dangers that exist in our world today. With this thought in mind we must think of how much more shall God rejoice to receive his children home? He loves his children far better then than we can imagine. He knows that their suffering is now over and that their sorrow is past.
Their passing allows Him the opportunity to truly display for them the sufficiency of His overeign grace. How do we know this? Because the passing saint goes directly into the arms of the Lord, “We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 5:8). We are saddened for a time yes, but part of that sorrow is an extension of the desire that we too have to be with Him. They are with Christ, the one that they loved and the one that truly loved and cared for them.
We are confident from the Scripture that the LORD takes special notice of His children and cares for us in a special manner. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1). “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you…” (Isaiah 43:2) Just to mention a few. Then we find in Psalm 116:15, “Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His saints.” This should be precious to us as well. This statement from God brings before us an aspect of death that which we sometimes fail to consider. It gives us a glimpse of what may be termed the God-minded view of the subject. We cannot contemplate death as a final thought, which is an earthly view, taken solely from our perspective. This passage opens up the heart of the Lord showing us from His viewpoint of Heaven. In the eyes of the Lord the death of a saint is not horrible but “precious.” Precious because that which is His is now going home to ever be with Him. We must learn to rejoice as David did with the passing of a loved one as found in 2 Samuel 23:23, “But now he is dead; why should I fast? Can I
bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”
We do pray for their family and all the friends that the Lord God will flood their hearts, minds and thoughts with memories and that His presence will overshadow them during this time of grief.
