"The Lord is with you, Mighty Warrior" Page 10

Romans 4:17 says “God… calls things that are not as though they were”.  The title of this page, which is actually scripture located in Judges 6, is an example of that.   In this passage God is encouraging Gideon to stand in his faith, to be courageous….and then God proceeded to call him a Mighty Warrior.  Gideon was not yet displaying the courage of a mighty warrior and he knew it; but God encouraged him with this empowering descriptive and boldly called things that weren’t as though they were.  This is a reminder that we must move past our emotions, those tumultuous beliefs bouncing around in the psychology of our minds and, with courage we do not know we have, stand in our faith.  How will we ever become that modern-day mighty warrior until we’ve done just this; stand when our legs are shaking, speak when our voice is quaking, and love when our hearts are breaking.  We must become what we not yet are…to achieve what has yet to be.

 It is with a longing to understand death that I compile these thoughts…for as I write this my uncle is spiritually walking through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.  The other day I went to visit him.  I stood at his bedside as he sought breaths that were hard to find, called for help in his time of need, and asked to be held as he sensed his life was faltering.  I pondered my uncle’s spiritual location as I stood there, momentarily choosing to be in that valley with him.  I held his hand and tried to clear my head of emotions so that I could bravely pray and stand guard over him as best I could.  I prayed that God would send angels to stand guard as well, and then turned my shift over to them… because I was faltering.  My emotions poured forth…and my frail, human heart began to break.

We become nostalgic at times like this.  We want this life to be eternal.  We want our loved ones to always be with us…yet we know this is humanly impossible.  Death is that one thing from which none of us can escape.  My mind tried to pull forth things I could remember about my uncle and I realized how much he reminds me of my father, his brother. With emotion, my heart began to beat patriotically knowing that he was a military man.  I viewed the metals on his dresser that displayed his bravery and honor….and I watched as he courageously took in those painful breaths that also displayed a very specific form of bravery and honor.  Standing on the cusp of this life and the next, knowing that it includes walking through a valley that is shadowed with death, is exactly like that of a military man braving it all. Just as the Lord spoke to Gideon…I wanted to tell my uncle “The Lord is with you, Mighty Warrior” and I did, in my own way.   Visiting with him was, indeed, precious for it allowed me to acknowledge that death is a part of living and it vividly reminded me that each breath is a gift that literally binds us to this world; but, what of the next?

 Scripture says in James 4: 14….”What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”   This vanishing includes a journey that is beyond the scope of our understanding.  We can only imagine the spiritual journey one takes when leaving this earth and entering the spiritual world so vast that its gates are made of ivory and its streets of gold.  Scripture says In I Corinthians 15:26 “The last enemy to be destroyed is death”.  II Timothy 1:10 says… “But it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel".  The Holy Bible is full of this revelation!  The above scripture states that we have eternal life through belief in our Savior Jesus Christ…and our hearts beat of this truth as well.     

          Scripture states in Ecclesiastes 3:1
 “He has made everything beautiful in its time.  He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

What does this mean?  From the beginning to the end, deep within our hearts, we absolutely know that we are meant for eternity.  Do you think it ironic that our hearts long to live forever, that we love so deeply that we can hardly bear losing a loved one?   We sense that there is something beyond ourselves….yet we cannot fathom it.   The best-selling book of all times, the Bible, states there is life after death.  All our human hopes would certainly be fulfilled if we took this amazing opportunity to be saved from the sin of this world and blessed with eternal life.  You are invited by God himself into eternity through the scripture in John 3: 16

 “For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
  Simply confess that you believe! 
“I believe!”

 We all have a legacy that is imperfect, but none-the-less, beautiful.   My uncle has a family history worthy of remembering.  The picture-book of our lives is there for this purpose.  With this said, we know that memories don’t suffice nor console.  There is really no way for us to reconcile losing a loved one…. but the more we know of God the easier it is to find a peace with this parting.  When we know God we are confident that “all things work for the good of those who love him”.  When we know God we have a trust, set deep in our core, that allows us to hold to our faith and accept the inevitable.  

 More importantly than all of this…when we know God we know that we will meet again in eternity.  Until then, we can stand confident in our faith that through the compassion of our Creator, we will smile again, love again…find joy again.  Time is an amazing healer -just as Christ is.  And just as His life floods beyond time-lines and still teaches and heals us with historic scripture and amazing grace…the passage of the very time He created will flood over us and attend to our fragile hearts.  Although we long to have our loved ones with us daily…we know that we will surely see them again in the heaven….in a way that will exceed all expectations of even our best days with them on earth.   God says it’s so…..biblical text confirms this….and I believe.  Do you?

“Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands”. 
II Corinthians 5: 1

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.  Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day-and not only to me, but also to ALL who have longed for his appearing”.
II Timothy 4: 7-8

In honor of Johnny Abrams-
who lived a full life!

Song recommendation
Who am I?
Casting Crowns

click this link to listen to the song "Who Am I?"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU_rTX23V7Q