Saturday, March 16, 2013

The Night Cometh

I went to bed the night of November 2, 2010 praying and asking God to choose what was best for me and my future birthdays. Among the traditional birthday phone calls from family members, I had received the news that my brother, Bruce was not expected to live through the night. My heart prayed to God and spoke to Bruce, "You choose." I spoke as I believed. "If you die on my birthday, I know that God will give that choice purpose in my life, and I will somehow be spared an emotional meltdown from the pain of spending every birthday in my future grieving," I resolved. Midnight came. I had my answer, so I went to bed. The choice was clear. Bruce would not die on my birthday. I thanked God graciously and braced myself in preparation for the "inevitable call." I did not know when it would come, but I knew that it would come. In John 9:4, Jesus spoke the words, "night cometh." Night came and went, but the morning of November 3, 2010, Bruce died. His death taught me that there is no adequate preparation for the death of a beloved one. However, nothing in life known to man comes closer to adequate preparation than having a firm faith in God's promises and faith in the redemptive work of Christ Jesus. I found new meaning in the Word of God, such as I did not think possible. My parents had six children together: five girls and one boy. Bruce was second to the oldest. He spent his entire life being the cherished "big brother." We all loved him dearly, but it was I who was indisputably his closest sibling. This became especially true over the last three decades of his life. We bonded more deeply as bold gospel messengers. I continue speaking as a lay-person. Bruce shared the gospel as an ordained Baptist preacher. We spent these decades edifying each other and testifying about the works of our God. Each observed the other as we grew in grace. The life and death process of no other individual has strengthened my walk with the Lord and increased my understanding of the power of the grace of God as did Bruce's process. The pain of grief seems unbearable. My experience forced me to ponder several questions. What do people who do not know Jesus do when they grieve? How do they survive without the blessed assurances of eternal life after death? What words exist, besides those found in God's word, which can bring comfort to those who mourn? More poignant than needing the comfort found in God's word when one is grieving, is the need for its comfort when one is himself/herself dying. The death of others has a way of bringing us face to face with thoughts of our own death. Without question, we are all dying. This is a fact. It is an undeniable universal law of nature. It is true of the sinner, as well as the saint. We cannot change this consequence of "the fall in the Garden of Eden." What we can control is our preparation for life after death, and we can control our quality of life as we await death. Whether we are prepared or not, death comes for each and every one of us at the appointed time. I wrote a book about the subject, Dying. Writing the poems comforted me beyond measure when I experienced the most painful mourning season of my life, when Night came for Bruce. I wrote the poems to comfort myself. The poems were divinely inspired and ministered to my grieving soul. I share them with the hope that they will bring the same comfort to others. (Access the poems at poemsforthedying.blogspot.com). Jesus provides us eternal life after death. Be prepared and prepare others, for...The Night Cometh. Joy!

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