I’LL MEET YOU IN THE MORNING!
This past week our family is remembering our precious
loved one who left us one year ago. And
oh, the memories and the tears that still come.
Maybe you too are remembering precious loved ones who have left us, and
I write this blog to bring you comfort as I have been comforted.
I am thinking of heaven and the joy they must be
experiencing, and the joy that is ahead for us when that great reunion
comes. Whether we meet Him in the sky or
meet Him in death, that is the “blessed
hope” that we believers are looking for.
I came across an article written by Joni Eareckson Tada
from her book “Diamonds in the Dust.” And it was my daily devotion on April 29, the
very day we were remembering our loved one.
“I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to
the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength, and
I stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud
just where the sea and sky come down to mingle with each other. Then someone at my side says: “there! She’s
gone.”
Gone where”? Gone
from my sight-that is all. She is just
as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side, and just
as able to bear her load of living freight to the place of destination. Her diminished size is in me, not in her; and
just at the moment when someone at my side says, “There! She’s gone,” there are
other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout,
“There she comes!” And that is dying!”
“Precious in the
sight of the LORD is the death of His saints” Psalm 116:15.
Yes, many are grieving today over the loss of loved
ones. My heart grieves for those who
have lost their children and other family members and friends in recent violence
in our land.
And there are many faces missing in my life in recent
months, as a Pastor I miss their smile and the precious times we had together
sharing God’s Word. And I think of those
confined in hospital beds, just waiting for Jesus to call them home.
And we wonder what heaven is like, what they who have
gone ahead are experiencing. They are at
home with the Lord and at peace. But
their leaving us leaves a void in our lives.
But we have His precious promises in His Word.
“Let not your
heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it
were not so, I would have told you. I go
to prepare a place for you. And if I go
and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that
where I am, there ye may be also” John
14:1-3.
We can only imagine what those “mansions” are like, where
our loved one is dwelling. We think in
earthly terms, but have no idea what God has prepared for each one of us. ( I
Corinthians 2:9).
We read in the 21st and 22nd
chapters of Revelations of streets of gold, trees of life, the beautiful river
of life. I once loved a dear saint who
was confined to a bed in a foster home.
We simply called her “Nana.”
Nana had had both legs amputated, and was nearing her 103rd
birthday when she had a dream and shared it with me. In her dream she saw a golden fountain and a
stream of water flowing from it, and I shared Revelation 22 with her, and we
both cried tears of joy, as I shared with her that soon she would be dancing on
those golden streets with her new legs.
She passed away shortly after that session and I truly expect to meet
her again someday. Oh, what joyful
visits we had!
“And God shall wipe away all tears from
their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying,
neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away”
Revelation 21:4.
Yes, God Himself will wipe away all tears. There will be no more parting over there, no
sorrow, or no more pain. Oh, what joy we
look forward too as we continue to walk this journey with Jesus. There around the next bend in the road, one
last hill to climb, and there, beloved will be your heavenly home, bright
shining on the horizon.
And as I think of my loved one, and remember her bright
smile as she greeted her children at the door, I think of this grand old
hymn: “I Will Meet You in the Morning.”
You be blessed as you remember your family and loved ones waiting for
you to come home and the joyous reunion just ahead.
“I’ll meet you in
the morning by the bright riverside when all sorrow has drifted away. I’ll be standing at the portals when the
gates open wide at the close of life’s long dreary day.
Refrain:
I’ll meet you in the morning with a how do you do. And we’ll sit down by
the river and with rapture old acquaintance renew. You’ll know me in the morning by the smile
that I wear, when I meet you in the morning in the city that’s built
foursquare.
I will meet you in
the morning at the end of the way on the streets of that city of gold, where we
all can be together and be happy always while the years and the ages shall
roll.” (as sung by Skeeter Davis).
In Jesus’ Name,
Pastor Sharon
No comments:
Post a Comment