Death! Yay! (Huh?)

Yes, I miss my loved ones who have gone on. Yes, I long to speak to my grandmother who nurtured me even more than my own mother. But would I have them come back from where they are now? Not on your life!

Do you realize, my friend, that death can actually be a good thing? I can hear some scoffing, "What can be good about my loved one dying?" Aside from the fact that if they knew Jesus they are now enjoying His presence, you might never know God's other reasons. But just as sure as I know my name is Janine, I am confident that if you praise and put your trust in the Giver of Life, not only will your pain be tempered but there will be times when maybe, just maybe, you will be given a glimpse as to the why.

That why will always be an extension of God's mercy and goodness to His children. How do I know this? Because James 1:17 says, "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." There is no bad in God.

In the Bible, King Hezekiah, a righteous king of Judah, was told by God's prophet to prepare his house because he was to be called home. He balked, cried, and pleaded with God for more time here on earth. God heard and gave him his desire: 15 more years. But, be careful what you pray for! In those 15 years he sired one of the most wicked kings in the Old Testament, Manasseh, one who shed copious amounts of innocent blood, including that of God's prophets. If Hezekiah had taken his death notice like a man, a notice sent by God, mind you, He who is perfect in all His ways (Psalm 18:30), Judah would have been spared the streets running with innocent blood and many being led astray to worship idols. Sometimes being called home can be a good thing.

I kicked against the pricks when my bestie, Grandma María, died at a young 91. God had told her she would live many years and I was hoping for a minimum of 95. But, after her passing, some extremely sad events that occurred in our family, things that would have broken her heart to see, actually made me glad that she wasn't around to witness such devastating events. In retrospect, her passing can only be construed as God's mercy to her. This understanding came only with the passage of time and the development of others' life stories, it was not evident at the moment of her passing. Several times in the Bible God told people that the sad events prognosticated would occur after their demise, because they--or their father--had found grace with Him (1 Kings 11:11-13; 1 Kings 14:13; 1 Kings 21:17-29).

Although I am in the dark as to the why other friends and loved ones of mine have been called home, this one thing I know: Jesus holds the keys to hell and death (Revelation 1:18). No one can pass from this life to the next without His say so. And, since He is a good God, a Father of light and not darkness, we know that we know that we know that whatever He allows to touch us in this life is for our ultimate good. Just look at the story of Job. Such heavenly scenarios did not end with the Old Covenant. Look at Luke 22:31-32 where Jesus told Peter that Satan had asked to have him, to sift him as wheat (when you sift wheat you shake it up) but that Jesus had prayed for him that his faith would not fail. Hurtful things, even the death of loved ones, are allowed in our lives for a purpose we might not be able to discern, but always, always, always with our ultimate good in mind. It might not be pleasant. Who wants to be shaken around as if they were in an earthquake? I've been in plenty of small ones, one significant one, and can say definitively that they do NOT feel good at all! But Jesus holds the keys of hell and death. If He in His divine love and wisdom allows death to come calling at our door, He will turn it to good (Romans 8:28).

Yes, we will at times scratch our heads at events that seem counterintuitive to God's promises. Honoring one's parents is the first commandment with promise, the promise of blessing and a long life (Ephesians 6:1-3) , yet sometimes even the lives of those who honor their parents are cut short. Why? I have absolutely no idea. God is God. If we could understand every single aspect of Him and His works He wouldn't be much of a God, would He? His promises are true and sure, yet there are times when there is a Heavenly override for which we have no answer. That's when trust and faith in Him come into play.

The Bible says that right now we see as through a glass darkly (1 Corinthians 13:12). We can kinda see why some things happen, but not always and not in all situations. Someday we'll know as we are known, someday things will be made plain to us, but until then we simply have to trust that God does love us, His will is to do that which will bless us and draw us closer to Him, and we absolutely must make the choice to believe and rest in the fact that everything He does is with our good in mind.

So your loved one passed? Don't despair. Death is part of life, something that will come at some time to all of us until Jesus comes. And maybe, just maybe, death is God's mercy to them, delivering them from some evil that is to come.

It might help to remember (something hard to do when our heart is quivering in pain) that death for the one who knows Jesus is not a punishment but a reward, a door to better things. And it's a given that if they died in faith, we who belong to God's family will see them again!

Death is not a "death sentence" to dread (1 Corinthians 15:55-58). When our loved one knows Jesus, it is a passage into the realm of Heaven where the presence of Jesus awaits us all. I can hardly wait!

(Note to self: continue to pray for unbelievers in the family so that they, too, can be part of this blessed group!)

"But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope...For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: ... and so shall we ever be with the Lord" (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17)