Look Beyond the World You See

Tag: Loss

  • The Sign of the Cross

    The Sign of the Cross

    It said, Ride On, Rest in Peace.  A simple wooden cross, stuck in the dirt on the side of the road marked the passing of a life from this world to the next.  What a modest way to say this person has taken the next step in their journey through eternity.  It is a journey so many have taken but so few are willing to consider.

    The Passing of Life is Holy Ground

    We look at a cross and see it as a symbol of death. The cemetery is a grim reminder of our view of the cross.  It is a sign that someone’s life is over.  Our immediate thought is about how they died and the family and friends they left behind.  It doesn’t take long to start thinking about our own mortality and what we would leave behind.  If you are like me, you may even wonder about the life to death process.

    Almost 150,000 people die per day worldwide.  The impact of a loss reflects the depth of our relationship.  You may read the obituaries and not be moved at all by a person’s passing.  You didn’t know them, so why should you be touched?  But what if you see the obituary of a friend on the paper before you?  How would that make you feel?  It is generally accepted that our parents will die before us, so composing their obituary may be very moving.  And God forbid, what if your child passes before you?  Then you would know the depth of pain that is shared by those who live outside the normal order of things.  The pain of death connects those who have shared it.

    When death touches us, we are reminded that the passing of a loved one is a special event.  Relationships captured in photos, videos and untold memories of days gone by flood our minds and fill our hearts.  It is a time to reflect on the best of our relationship and sometimes the worst of the one we lost.  It is a time to consider whether the worst was really that bad.

    Death is one of the few times we are closest to seeing past the veil of this life.  The closer you get to death, the more you realize what is important.

    Just as the well of love that God has given us has no earthly bottom, so too can our grief be.  A child mourns the passing of a parent for years.  A man marks the death of a best friend on each anniversary of his death and on his birthday.  A parent suffers the pain of losing a child and carries that wound like they are holding their baby child.  The passing of life is holy ground.

    Symbol of Life

    While we see a cross as a symbol of death, God sees it as a symbol of life.  We cling to life as if there is no tomorrow, but God has made a way for us to live forever with Him.  God has a way of turning our perspective of death around and forcing us to see it from a different angle.  He took our symbol of death and made it a symbol of life.

    You know Jesus Christ and His story.  It is the story that rises above the rest.  It is the story of His birth, life, death and resurrection.  Every December 25th, you celebrate His birth and every Easter you celebrate His resurrection.  His is the story of true life.  It is a reminder of the love that God has for you and the life He has waiting for you by simply believing in Him.

    The apostle, Paul, was a sinner and violent aggressor, yet the Lord used him to demonstrate His perfect patience towards sinners so that they might be saved.  Taken from 1 Timothy 13-16.   In the same way, the Lord uses each one of us to demonstrate His patience towards sinners, because He desires ALL Men to be Saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth.  He wants to save everyone from eternal destruction and separation from Him.  In Heaven, He will wipe away every tear.  There will be no more sorrow and no more pain because the former things will have passed away.  We will live forever in joy, peace and inexpressible happiness on the day our veil is removed, if we have made a choice to believe that Jesus Christ is who He says He is.  He is, the Great Redeemer, Wonderful Counselor and Prince of Peace.  Don’t let disbelief cloud your choice.

    We are the Family of Man

    This life connects us and weaves our stories together.  Death finalizes our story and passes it on to the next generation, but death does not need to end that connection.  God made us Eternal Beings and meant for us to keep our relationships forever.  And we can, in Heaven.  We will know each other forever, but in that place those relationships will be drenched in peace and harmony.  It will be the best of times.

    Are there people that have made a difference in your life?  Perhaps someone in your childhood who shared a special bond with you?  If their journey took them from this world before you, then know that they aren’t gone forever.  They are simply waiting on the other side for you.

    There is an hour for each of us to die.  Do not be afraid of that hour, because it is what you have been created for.  Not to dwell here on this world forever, but to learn, to grow, to build family, friendships and earthly connections that will continue into eternity.  You were born to be eternal.  You were made an eternal being.  You are eternal.  The sign of the Cross says it is so.

  • A Servant of God Among Men

    A Servant of God Among Men

    He would be called the greatest evangelist of the 19th century.  Presidents would honor him.  A ship would even be named after him.  But as a boy, no one of his family, friends or acquaintances would have predicted a life that was accorded these honors.  In fact, there was nothing in his young life that could have revealed the impact he would have on the world.  Unless it was the struggles he would endure in those first years of life.

    Born February 5th, 1837, in Northfield, Massachusetts, Dwight was the 6th of 9 nine children.  His father passed away when he was four and his pregnant mother would deliver twins a month later.

    With the family heavily in debt, “creditors came and took everything, including the firewood and kindling”1.  Refusing to break up the family, Dwight’s mother told the kids to stay in bed until they went to school, so they could try to stay warm.  An uncle cut and split more firewood for the family.  A young Dwight would remember it as the “biggest pile of wood he had ever seen”2.

    Every Penny Counted

    Days after giving birth to her twins, the landlord would berate and curse Dwight’s mother for not having the mortgage payment ready.  With her husband’s recent death, she had not the money for it.  Although family members came to her aid and paid the mortgage for the year, she would “cry herself to sleep at night”3.

    In Dwight’s family, every penny counted and that is just what little Dwight earned.  Having to work before he was 10 years old, Dwight earned one cent a week tending cows.  At 10 years old, he walked 13 miles with his older brother to another town to work.  Dwight felt as if he had “walked around the world”4.  Supporting the family was a habit he kept into adulthood, regularly sending money home.

    Dwight did go to school but paid little attention.  As a result, he was barely literate and spelled words the way they sounded.  His atrocious spelling endured for more than half his life.

    Although Dwight was baptized at the same time as his siblings, he had little desire to pursue a faith in Christ.  He preferred instead to cause trouble and have fun at other people’s expense.

    Nothing is Wasted

    Is it ironic that God uses the circumstances of one life to reach others?  Nothing is wasted when God works. 

    After accepting the truth of a living and loving God, Dwight’s ministry began with the children on the streets of Chicago.  Precisely because of the circumstances of his own childhood, Dwight was able to speak with the children of Chicago’s streets.  Those children in turn, found someone they could trust.  Dwight understood them.

    Beginning a Sunday school in an abandoned saloon, Dwight’s kids grew to 1500 strong.  The work among these children was becoming known.  President-elect, Abraham Lincoln, even visited the school.

    Dwight worked hard at serving.  He spent long hours every day doing what he thought God wanted.  It wasn’t until the Great Chicago Fire in 1871 that Dwight stopped working in his own power.

    After the fire, Dwight and his family were destitute.  Their home and belongings were gone.  They barely escaped with the clothes on their back and what little they could carry.

    His Inner Man Was Suffering

    For months, Dwight was lost.  While he helped where he could, he had no strength in him for ministry.  He went about his business but it was the ordeal his inner man was suffering that consumed him.  It was during this time that the Lord showed Dwight about himself.  He realized that he had been serving himself and not Jesus Christ.  Upon the realization that his heart had been in the wrong place, Dwight’s true anointing began.

    Dwight Lyman Moody, also known as, D.L. Moody, would go on to become a famed evangelist and leave a legacy that continues today.  He applied himself to be a servant of men, but instead became a servant of God.

    You May Be the Bolt of Lightening

    We could speak more of Dwight, but what about you?  While your own life may not resemble what Dwight endured, you have a story all your own.  You may think the circumstances of your life aren’t useful for anything, but God is the Master Artist.  He will take what you have and do miracles in others that you never thought possible.

    You may be the bolt of lightning that Jesus Christ uses to illuminate the darkness or penetrate another’s soul.  But as Dwight learned, it is God’s power, light, direction and penetration that so masterfully changes the lives around you.

    I would like to leave you with three verses that sum up what Dwight learned.

    • “’Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.” Zechariah 4:6 NIV. 
    • As the apostle Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13 NKJV.
    • Jesus said it best.  “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” John 15:5 NKJV.

    Are you happy?  Are you living a fulfilled life?  Do you feel like you make a difference?  Or are you filled with regret at squandering so much of the life God has given?  Turn to Jesus Christ in prayer.  There is still time.  Even the ministry of Jesus Christ was only 3 years long and look what came of it; eternal life for all who believe in Him and what He did.

    References

    1.  Kevin Belmonte “D.L. Moody, A Life”, pg. 21.
    2. Ibid., 21-22.
    3. Ibid., 22.
    4. Ibid., 26.
    5. Ibid.

  • Not Without My Family

    Not Without My Family

    Florita buried her daughter, her firstborn, when she was only 12 years old.  Lupus showed no mercy when her daughter contracted the disease and died from it.  By Flo’s own confession, she was devastated.  Who could console this mother’s loss?  Who was there to console her?  As a single mother without a husband to raise 4 children on her own, Flo was left to grapple with the devastating effects of the death of her only daughter.

    The loss of a child is not the normal order of life.  It is usually our children who bury us.  But there they were.  Flo’s three boys.  She had to go on for their sake.  Eventually, Flo enshrined the loss of her daughter in a special place in her heart so that she could move on.  She knew that her daughter would never come back to her.  This mother’s faith told her that one day she would go to her daughter.

    It was but scant years before death visited once more.  This mother of 4, and now 3, had barely learned to live again when she lost a son in a freak accident during boot camp.  A truck rolled over during a training exercise and her loss grew to two children.  Pride in her son’s courage to join the Army melted into her worst fear and the familiar grief of loss.  He was barely 18.

    Tell Me, is it True?

    They say that time heals all wounds.  Tell me, Flo, is it true?  I would trust you to know.

    Time brought this single mother a new and wonderful husband.  Life with her husband and two remaining boys who were now grown men with lives of their own was finally full.  Eventually, these boys brought young women for their mother to love as daughters-in-law.  Together, these 2 boys and their wives gave Florita grand-children to love.  It was time to truly heal.  Or was it?

    The unfathomable news that her third child had died could not be contained.  Circumstances of his death only shrouded her grief in misery and confusion.

    Flo’s grand-children and their mother were gathered together with her remaining son, to lower his brother into the ground.  This was the day I first met her.  Flo sat stoically as the eulogy was delivered for her beloved son.  I could not begin to imagine the depth of her pain.  It made me wonder, why is it that some must carry burdens so great?

    Almost 5 Years to the Day

    I won’t hide what happens next.  It was almost 5 years to the day.  Her last son.  Her only son left alive.  Her only child left who had been there for each passing of his siblings and the ceremonies that marked the next step in their eternal journeys. This son knew the loss his mother carried.   He cared for his mother so much that he chose to give up his love of riding motorcycles to be there for her in her old age.  Deciding to sell his motorcycle, he found a co-worker to buy it, just to make sure he would never be in a motorcycle accident that would take him away from his mother.  That fateful morning, on his way to work to deliver the bike to his friend, he was killed in an accident.  Her last son.  Her youngest.  Gone.  It defies all reason.

    Who Could Endure?

    Florita must be a strong woman.  Who could endure the loss of all of her children?  She continued when others would have surrendered.  Fortunately, Flo’s husband was there to comfort her.  Flo was alone in the beginning, but not now.  The years into retirement brought travel together with her husband.  There were good times as they toured the country in their motorhome.

    Eventually, as it is with all life, our youth passes.  We are left aged, even though we still feel young on the inside.  It is what is on the outside that drags us down.  Old bodies that creak and groan and grumble.  Flo and her husband were aging.  At the normal time of life that death would come calling, it would have been a mercy for Flo to be the one to go first.

    When we received the call that Flo’s husband had passed, I couldn’t stop thinking of her and her journey on this island called, earth.  I don’t know anyone else who has endured so much loss.  It makes me wonder about who Flo is and what type of person she is on the inside that could suffer so much and go on.

    Florita has had 5 family members walk through the veil before her.  Rarely must one person suffer so much loss.  All who hear Flo’s story will grieve with her at her immeasurable loss.  If I could give my life to bring even one of her family back, I would do it gladly.

    The only way I can come to grips with the loss Flo has endured is to think of our future self in heaven.  In time, each of us will walk the path Flo’s family has taken.  I wonder what it will be like to shed this mortal life for immortality; to leave the world we see for the world we don’t see.

    Through a Mirror Dimly

    Flo has lost everyone.  All four children and now her husband.  Seemingly, she is alone in this life, but Jesus Christ is still with her.  He will never leave Flo or abandon her.  Jesus Christ has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you” Hebrews 13:5 partial, NASB.  He sees Flo’s loss and will restore all that she has lost.  Scripture says, “I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten.”  Joel 2:25. He will turn your mourning into praise and will cause you to rejoice.  “You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.  LORD my God, I will praise you forever.” Psalms 30:11-12 NIV.

    We do not see it now because we see through a mirror dimly.  “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.” 1 Corinthians 13:12 NIV.  Who can see through the veil?  It is always before us until we take that step in our journey into eternity.  But there are evidences of what lies beyond the veil.  Those proofs are found in the bible as well as all around us.

    We see them in the flowers, trees, mountains and oceans.  It is the perfection and symbiosis of all life and living things.  It is in the fact that the ocean goes no further than the beach.  The bible tells us that God put an everlasting ordinance on the ocean so that it would stop at the beach.  “I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross.  The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it.” Jeremiah 5:22 NIV, partial.

    We also see and hear these evidences in the stories we tell that remind us of deeds long past.  Jesus’ birth, life, death and resurrection are one example.

    If you are like Flo and have suffered loss, then let me encourage you.  I think that when we enter the veil, we will learn the story of those who have gone before us and we will discover that they entered through the veil with singing and dancing and music and joy and peace and inexpressible love.  It is what each of those who have made a choice for Jesus Christ, will experience when they take that next step in their journey.

    Are You Unsure?

    Are you unsure of a loved one who has gone before you?  Take heart.  No one knows who will be waiting for us, but with God, all things are possible.  God is the one who examines our heart.  “I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind.” Jeremiah 17:10 NIV, partial.  He is the judge and if there is anyone who you would want judging you, it is the God who is love.

    Love covers a multitude of sins.  Love endures when all else fails.  Love forgives the unforgiveable.  You don’t believe me?  See what the bible has to say about love.

    • “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:8 NIV
    • “This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” 1 John 4:10 NIV
    • “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.” 1 John 4:12 NIV
    • “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8 NIV
    • “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NIV

    Flo, isn’t alone.  The hosts of Heaven are with her.  They mourn as one with her and for her great loss.  God will restore her loss and give her time unending to enjoy the fruit she longs for, which is her family.