I had awakened in the middle of the night, and I knew immediately the day it had become. It was the anniversary of our daughter’s death and birth. It’s agonizingly interesting to realize that when a newborn dies so very shortly after birth, what is remembered most is her death. Those were not the thoughts and words though that came to me as I stumbled my way into the bathroom. Today is the anniversary of our baby’s homegoing. Suddenly I was infused with joy rather than the dread I had anticipated, and my heart was full and deeply grateful. My joy was followed by a simple expression of my gratitude. Thank You, Jesus. Thank You. I longed to hold onto the remembrance of a homegoing and as I laid back again in bed, I really did not want to go to sleep, for I just wanted to remember, and somehow, the intrusion of sleep, so I reasoned, could cause me to forget. My need for sleep though overcame my determination, but when I awakened again, the assurance, the hope, the knowledge was still vibrant that, yes, my daughter is not with us, but like David, I will some day go to her.
So many years have passed, but I do not forget. And with this awakening, God had given the precious gift of the assurance of my daughter’s homegoing. As I had taught those previous months, even as I had shared the hope of Heaven with others, the focus had come back often to the promises God has made about eternity. We are all created as eternal beings, an eternity that begins at conception. Our God is fully involved in that process. He formed my inward parts; He wove me in my mother's womb. Fearfully and wonderfully, I was made by Him. God placed an awareness of eternity within my heart, and He set that eternity before me. This life is a mere mist, an accumulation of droplets that only dampens the vastness of eternity. Eternity though is seen in relationship with God. This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. That eternal life begins at salvation and extends through the eons of unending time. And here, I know God in ways that can only foreshadow the knowledge and experience of Him I will embrace when my body is raised to live forever. Our earthly bodies are planted in the ground when we die, but they will be raised to live forever. Our bodies are buried in brokenness, but they will be raised in glory. They are buried in weakness, but they will be raised in strength. They are buried as natural human bodies, but they will be raised as spiritual bodies. And that spiritual, eternal body will then know and see God just as He is. That reality will be one of perfection, embracing too, perfect pleasure, perfect comfort, perfect love, and perfect joy.
God’s promises are the hope of every believer, the comfort we need as we recognize our days in this “mist” are truly limited, and our comfort when life ceases for one we love who is wrapped in God’s incredible grace. We will grieve, but not as those without hope.
– Bev
(Related Bible reading: Psalm 139:13,14; John 17:3; 1 Corinthians 15:42-44)
