Of all the great benefits of Facebook, I have to believe that one of the best is that it gives us just a tiny glimpse of what Heaven will be like. Just this week - through Facebook - I experienced one of those glimpses.
I'll start at the beginning. I committed my life to Christ when I was in the fifth grade. Although the actual moment of my repentance and salvation I remember vividly, I don't remember many details after that. One experience, however, came to my mind just a couple of years ago when I was doing a Beth Moore study. I was to chart my life and name significant spiritual events that God used to shape my life. As I was doing this and reflecting back on the early years of my faith, God brought to mind one particular Wednesday night. I had brought a friend to church with me, and at some point, she and I were in the sanctuary by ourselves, and I shared Christ with her. I don't remember what motivated me, I don't remember exactly what I said, and I don't remember her response. All I remember is that I shared. A year later, she and her family moved, and I hadn't been in touch with her since.
Fast forward almost twenty years, and I received a Facebook friend request from her. We caught up with a few emails and then, like most facebook friends, we keep up with one another by reading status updates. As time went on, I noticed that many of her status updates were of her faith: Bible verses, testimonies, her experience at her church. Eventually my curiosity got the best of me. I didn't recall her being raised in church, and I wanted to hear her testimony.
And she was glad to give it! Like me, she didn't recall many specifics of our conversation that night, but she shared that at that time she felt herself seeking God more and him seeking her. She started going to church with her landlords while she still lived in our hometown. Then a few years later, after she had moved from our hometown, she got involved in a church, was mentored by her youth pastor, and came to Christ in faith.
A couple of years ago, another significant event occured in her life. One day she was caring for her grandmother in the nursing home, and her grandmother, her grandmother's best friend, and her mom each came to faith in Christ.
Today she and her husband - who also wasn't raised in church - are raising their son in church and are faithful in following God.
How thrilled I was to read her testimony! But it also went beyond that for me. It served as a reminder that our being obedient to Christ in sharing him with others doesn't always produce the fruit that we will see right away. The point is that we are obedient. And the point is, it's not about me or what I do. It's about what God does. It's my job and privilege to obey; it's his job to bring the person to himself.
Which brings me back to Facebook and Heaven. If it hadn't been for Facebook, I probably wouldn't have known about my friend until our reunion in Heaven. I can only hope that throughout our lives we have been and will be obedient to Christ. And someday we'll get to meet again more people like my friend, whose lives God changed, in part because we were obedient. Obedient in sharing the gospel. Obedient to giving to ministries that send others to share the gospel. Obedient to the ultimate calling we have as Christians: to share the message of salvation through Christ Jesus.
Because we never know what seeds we're planting - or watering - and that God is causing to grow.
"I will trust and not be afraid."
I suppose every child deals with nighttime fears from time to time. My 3 1/2 year old has been relatively fear-free until very recently. One night he asked to go to the bathroom, and as we sat there lit only by a nightlight, he talked to me incessantly about random things. After about 5 minutes of this (and knowing that he had never gone number two at this time of the evening), I realized that there was more to this.
"Drew, do you really have to go to the bathroom, or do you not want to go to bed?" He replied honestly, "I don't want to go to bed. The bugs will come into my room and hurt me." My response was what I believe any mother's natural response would be. "Drew, the bugs won't hurt you. And they can't get into the house." "But the wasps will use their hands and pry the door open." Thus went the see-saw of words between Drew and me. He gave a reason for his fear. I responded with a logical answer.
That wasn't working.
Next I went to the next most natural thing. "Drew, God will protect you. He watches over you." Expecting this to calm him down, we went through a similar see-saw of words, even getting into theological questions an adult has trouble comprehending, much less explaining to a 3-year-old. Clearly, this wasn't working either.
Then I remembered what I did when I was a child of about 10 or 11 when I was scared. I quoted a verse my mom taught me in G.A.'s: "I will trust and not be afraid." (Isaiah 12:2) I'll try this, I thought. It can't hurt.
"Drew, I'm going to teach you a new Bible verse that I said when I was a little girl when I got scared." I had him repeat the phrase after me. After only saying the verse two times, he was calm and quiet. I kissed him goodnight, half expecting him to call for me again a little while later.
I didn't hear from him until the next morning.
Don't get me wrong. I believe in the power of God's word. But this was amazing even to me. The next night, he did the bathroom ritual all over again, this time being scared of the frogs. Having learned my lesson from the previous night - and halfway wanting to test this again to see if it "worked" - I skipped the logic and even skipped talking about God's protection and went straight to the same Scripture.
He was off to sleep in no time, his fears erased.
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
Obviously this was a life lesson in parenting for me. Scripture is relevant and active in no matter the situation my children find themselves. And it's up to me to teach them Scripture - even at this young age - and how to apply it to their daily lives.
Yet, there is also a lesson for me as an adult. What fears am I facing? Jesus made it clear that we were not to fear but instead to trust in Him. (That doesn't mean our worst earthly fears won't come to pass; even most of Jesus' disciples - to whom he told not to fear - were eventually killed for their faith. Instead, it means that when we have trusted in Jesus for our eternal salvation, we ultimately have nothing to fear.)
But when we do find ourselves faced with fear, what do we do? Do we respond with logic? Do we respond with our own [possibly incorrect] understanding of God? Or do we go straight to Scripture? The latter will be the only infallible response.
Scripture is the inspired Word of God that is active today, even thousands of years after it was first penned. Even though I've seen it at work in my life time after time, it takes on even a new meaning when I see it work in my child's young life as well.
"Drew, do you really have to go to the bathroom, or do you not want to go to bed?" He replied honestly, "I don't want to go to bed. The bugs will come into my room and hurt me." My response was what I believe any mother's natural response would be. "Drew, the bugs won't hurt you. And they can't get into the house." "But the wasps will use their hands and pry the door open." Thus went the see-saw of words between Drew and me. He gave a reason for his fear. I responded with a logical answer.
That wasn't working.
Next I went to the next most natural thing. "Drew, God will protect you. He watches over you." Expecting this to calm him down, we went through a similar see-saw of words, even getting into theological questions an adult has trouble comprehending, much less explaining to a 3-year-old. Clearly, this wasn't working either.
Then I remembered what I did when I was a child of about 10 or 11 when I was scared. I quoted a verse my mom taught me in G.A.'s: "I will trust and not be afraid." (Isaiah 12:2) I'll try this, I thought. It can't hurt.
"Drew, I'm going to teach you a new Bible verse that I said when I was a little girl when I got scared." I had him repeat the phrase after me. After only saying the verse two times, he was calm and quiet. I kissed him goodnight, half expecting him to call for me again a little while later.
I didn't hear from him until the next morning.
Don't get me wrong. I believe in the power of God's word. But this was amazing even to me. The next night, he did the bathroom ritual all over again, this time being scared of the frogs. Having learned my lesson from the previous night - and halfway wanting to test this again to see if it "worked" - I skipped the logic and even skipped talking about God's protection and went straight to the same Scripture.
He was off to sleep in no time, his fears erased.
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12)
Obviously this was a life lesson in parenting for me. Scripture is relevant and active in no matter the situation my children find themselves. And it's up to me to teach them Scripture - even at this young age - and how to apply it to their daily lives.
Yet, there is also a lesson for me as an adult. What fears am I facing? Jesus made it clear that we were not to fear but instead to trust in Him. (That doesn't mean our worst earthly fears won't come to pass; even most of Jesus' disciples - to whom he told not to fear - were eventually killed for their faith. Instead, it means that when we have trusted in Jesus for our eternal salvation, we ultimately have nothing to fear.)
But when we do find ourselves faced with fear, what do we do? Do we respond with logic? Do we respond with our own [possibly incorrect] understanding of God? Or do we go straight to Scripture? The latter will be the only infallible response.
Scripture is the inspired Word of God that is active today, even thousands of years after it was first penned. Even though I've seen it at work in my life time after time, it takes on even a new meaning when I see it work in my child's young life as well.
This Sickness Will Not End in Death
It was a beautiful Friday afternoon in July. I sat in the nursery rocking Drew, 11 months old at the time, to sleep. I had taken the afternoon off when my husband Matt had called me telling me that his dad Mike had been sick, and bloodwork revealed there was illness. With Mike's previous two bouts with cancer two decades prior, we knew it had returned.
As Drew lay peacefully in my lap, I found myself praying through tears, "Father, I know all things are for your glory, but for the life of me I cannot imagine Mike's death being for your glory. Even so, it's in your hands."
Interrupting my prayer came words out of nowhere. This sickness will not end in death. My mind hadn't even gone to any Bible verses, so I knew these words were not of my own thought process. I recognized the phrase coming from the New Testament, but I couldn't even recall which story it was from. I knew from the bottom of my heart, and I had no doubt, that these words were from God.
As tests started to reveal more and more bad news, I started to believe that these words were given to me so that despite the reality, my role would be faith. Faith that this sickness would not end in death, no matter how dire the situation became.
I embraced my new role and kept the faith, praying for healing, knowing it would come in God's time. As those difficult months became years, I found myself still keeping the faith, praying for healing, yet also questioning that perhaps I had misunderstood. After all, those words were from Jesus when Lazarus was sick, and Lazarus died before Jesus raised him from the dead. But throughout it all, I never doubted that the words were from God, even if I didn't understand them completely. I finally accepted what Priscilla Shirer stated in her book Discerning the Voice of God, that you may never know if you truly heard from God until it comes to pass.
Then after two long years, again on a Friday afternoon, I found myself watching Mike taking his last breaths. As he did, I oddly did not feel the presence of God. I didn't know why.
Two days later on Sunday morning, Drew, now 3, woke me up at 4 a.m. I couldn't go back to sleep, so as the sun rose, I found myself alone and reading my Bible. I decided to go back to John chapter 11, where those words that I thought I had heard were located. As I intently read every word of that chapter, little nuggets of truth popped out at me, but when I read two verses, I found myself sobbing.
"Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?'" (John 11:25-26, emphasis mine).
"Never die!" "Never die!" Those words were so loud in my heart that I could feel them with every fiber of my being. The Mike I knew never died!
Through my tears it all became plain to me. The reason I felt so odd in the hospital as Mike drew his last breath is because death isn't natural. It's not the way God intended. Only after sin entered the world did death follow. The wages of sin is death... the words of the verse I had memorized as a child held new meaning now. Though the wages of sin is also spiritual death, I saw firsthand the wages of sin in the carnal sense. ...but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Mike's soul never died because he accepted Jesus's gift of salvation. I found myself having my own little worship service, praising God, thanking him for salvation. At this moment, it took on a whole new dimension in my life.
Then my heart reflected to those words I thought I had heard two years ago. This sickness will not end in death. They were, in fact, the words of God, straight to my heart. Two years ago, God had this very moment in mind for me, that I may see the big picture in a new way. That I may look upon my own salvation with a new thankfulness, and that I may find peace that though Mike's body isn't here, his soul never died. And it's only because of Jesus' gift that any of us who accepts it has assurance that we will never die.
What about the "why" question that seems to rear its ugly head? I won't know all the answers until I meet Jesus, but I go back to that verse in John: "Jesus said, 'This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it.'" (John 11:4)
One thing is for sure. God has been and will continue to be glorified through Mike's illness and his physical death. And now Mike knows all the answers to the whys and is glorifying God that his sickness did not end in death.
As Drew lay peacefully in my lap, I found myself praying through tears, "Father, I know all things are for your glory, but for the life of me I cannot imagine Mike's death being for your glory. Even so, it's in your hands."
Interrupting my prayer came words out of nowhere. This sickness will not end in death. My mind hadn't even gone to any Bible verses, so I knew these words were not of my own thought process. I recognized the phrase coming from the New Testament, but I couldn't even recall which story it was from. I knew from the bottom of my heart, and I had no doubt, that these words were from God.
As tests started to reveal more and more bad news, I started to believe that these words were given to me so that despite the reality, my role would be faith. Faith that this sickness would not end in death, no matter how dire the situation became.
I embraced my new role and kept the faith, praying for healing, knowing it would come in God's time. As those difficult months became years, I found myself still keeping the faith, praying for healing, yet also questioning that perhaps I had misunderstood. After all, those words were from Jesus when Lazarus was sick, and Lazarus died before Jesus raised him from the dead. But throughout it all, I never doubted that the words were from God, even if I didn't understand them completely. I finally accepted what Priscilla Shirer stated in her book Discerning the Voice of God, that you may never know if you truly heard from God until it comes to pass.
Then after two long years, again on a Friday afternoon, I found myself watching Mike taking his last breaths. As he did, I oddly did not feel the presence of God. I didn't know why.
Two days later on Sunday morning, Drew, now 3, woke me up at 4 a.m. I couldn't go back to sleep, so as the sun rose, I found myself alone and reading my Bible. I decided to go back to John chapter 11, where those words that I thought I had heard were located. As I intently read every word of that chapter, little nuggets of truth popped out at me, but when I read two verses, I found myself sobbing.
"Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?'" (John 11:25-26, emphasis mine).
"Never die!" "Never die!" Those words were so loud in my heart that I could feel them with every fiber of my being. The Mike I knew never died!
Through my tears it all became plain to me. The reason I felt so odd in the hospital as Mike drew his last breath is because death isn't natural. It's not the way God intended. Only after sin entered the world did death follow. The wages of sin is death... the words of the verse I had memorized as a child held new meaning now. Though the wages of sin is also spiritual death, I saw firsthand the wages of sin in the carnal sense. ...but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Mike's soul never died because he accepted Jesus's gift of salvation. I found myself having my own little worship service, praising God, thanking him for salvation. At this moment, it took on a whole new dimension in my life.
Then my heart reflected to those words I thought I had heard two years ago. This sickness will not end in death. They were, in fact, the words of God, straight to my heart. Two years ago, God had this very moment in mind for me, that I may see the big picture in a new way. That I may look upon my own salvation with a new thankfulness, and that I may find peace that though Mike's body isn't here, his soul never died. And it's only because of Jesus' gift that any of us who accepts it has assurance that we will never die.
What about the "why" question that seems to rear its ugly head? I won't know all the answers until I meet Jesus, but I go back to that verse in John: "Jesus said, 'This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it.'" (John 11:4)
One thing is for sure. God has been and will continue to be glorified through Mike's illness and his physical death. And now Mike knows all the answers to the whys and is glorifying God that his sickness did not end in death.
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