Very Unfinished Product: Death, where is your sting??

My heart is heavy these last couple weeks as I mourn for a young family in our hometown. She has been taken off of her radiation treatments and hospice is being called in for the last stretch of her battle with brain cancer. She has a husband who loves her and two precious little girls. I hate Cancer. I hate pain and suffering. I hate the frailty of our bodies here on earth. I hate sin and how it effects our lives. Cancer is straight from the devil, the father of lies and of sin.

Paul says in scripture, "For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better." I wholeheartedly believe this. I believe that our time our earth, at it's absolute best, is only a glimpse of the eternity that is to come for those who follow Christ. I am excited about living in eternity with Jesus and about being reunited with all of my loved ones. (Some I have never met!)

I have mentioned before that I really wrestled with the thought of death over the course of the last year. I realized that I had been holding on to this life on earth with a very tight fist. My biggest thing was that I couldn't imagine how my kids and husband could survive without me! It's really kind of egotistical if you think about it. It's as if we are the god of their lives and that the REAL God in Heaven isn't capable of providing for them all that they would need without us. I also can not imagine not watching them grow up and/or not being a significant part of their lives here on Earth because I love them so much BUT I'm not afraid of death anymore. I am confident that if I were to pass, I wouldn't being in Heaven crying about it. I think I would be excited for my family to join me! And I know God could and would take care of my family.

I think our culture has such a warped view of so many things, and this is one of them. Why are we so afraid of death? Really to die is GAIN. In Heaven, there will be no more suffering, no more pain, and we will be with Jesus. It's like our time on the Earth is only a pitstop to our eternal destination and THAT is the place we REALLY want to be. Our hearts were made to worship Jesus, we were made to worship the Creator, and one day we will do just that without the ugliness of this world. No MORE DEATH, no more SUFFERING! Our lives will be rich and complete. We will be lacking NOTHING!

Scripture also says, "death, where is your sting?" It's like a punch in Satan's face. "HA! You thought you could destroy us by suffering through death, but Satan, we've got your number!! We KNOW that through our salvation in Christ, we will be reunited in Heaven, and it will be a perfect Earth! A NEW EARTH! With all the things we love, but none of the things we hate! No more tears."

To me, the hardest part of death is the actual suffering that leads to death, it's often unfathomable the amount of suffering that goes on in this lifetime. Pain and sickness is horrible. And then the thought of continuing on without a loved one. If I were to lose Jason or one of my kids, I can't even imagine the pain that it would entail. I can't imagine the hole I would have in my heart.

But here is one thing I know, GOD IS BIGGER. GOD IS BIG ENOUGH TO GUIDE US AND LOVE US AND TO HEAL THOSE HOLES IN OUR HEARTS, IF NOT ON THIS EARTH, IN HEAVEN ONE DAY. Can we ever be the same after such a great loss? I hope not. I hope through our afflictions and pain, we become more and more defendant on our father in Heaven who wants to comfort us. I hope we realize more and more that our time on Earth is short and that it matters if we trust the Lord with our eternal destination. It matters if we decide TODAY whether or not we will go to Heaven or Hell when we die. It matters if we decide that we truly are helpless without the love and hope of Jesus Christ in our lives. For our eternal destination, and for the strength and hope to thrive in this broken world.

So we do not lose heart.Though our outer selfis wasting away,our inner selfis being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Jesus, please be with my friends who are suffering so deeply right now. Please comfort them. Please give them strength and hope to continue on. Please be with sweet, sweet Cara as she endures. Please take away any pain. Jesus, come quickly!! We NEED YOU! Please help us to tangibly feel your love for us. This suffering is more than our finite minds can handle.

To my mommy friends, I am vowing in honor of Cara, to be the best mommy and wife that I can be. Because the simple fact that I am able to is a gift that isn't to be taken lightly. Join me!

Love,