09/12/2019
Are we sick, or dying? Are we growing old, and feeling the pains of a body that is winding down? Is our mind failing us, taking with it the things we once knew, and were so precious to us? If our bodies and minds are wasting away take heart, because our souls are forever young, and are renewed in the Lord every day. Don’t allow what is happening to a body, that is designed to last for a short while, to cause you to lose sight of what is eternally important and constructed within you.
“So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.”
2 Corinthians 4:16 ESV
My mother-in-law, like all of us who live a full and long life, was suffering through the normal aches, and pains of a body that was approaching the end of its warranty, but before that expiration could occur she had to face something that was particularly hard on her, and her family... dementia. When this happens to us, or someone we love, we can easily confuse it with the destruction of who we are. We look at ourselves, or those we love, as they lose touch with this world, and tend to think that their inner self is dying... but it is not. The soul remains when all that is left of us is but dust.
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
Ephesians 6:12 ESV
We were given a glimpse of this during our final days with my mother-in-law. She was old, and bent by time, and the dementia had become so bad that she couldn’t recognize her children, or remember anything of her past life... her body and mind were losing the battle to death. The hardest part to face though was to look at her and know that this person you had loved so completely, didn’t know you any longer. It was as though her soul had died, but then, we were given a glimpse into something that told us differently.
“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father's hand. I and the Father are one."”
John 10:28-30 ESV
Our family was visiting her in the memory ward of the nursing home to celebrate her birthday, and my soon to be daughter-in-law was about to give our family a gift. Katherine is a concert pianist, and while looking through my mother-in-law’s piano stool she found a book of hymns that had handwritten notes throughout it. So after we had sung happy birthday, and eaten cake, Katherine went to a piano that was in the room, opened the hymnal to a song that had many notes in the margin, and began to play. It was then that God gave us a glimpse into something wonderful... my mother-in-law began to sing. She had sat quietly staring into the distance while the family sang her happy birthday, but now the words and the melody of this hymn sprang forth from her perfectly. At first we stood in stunned silence, but then began to sing along. Over the course of the next several minutes she sang one hymn after another without missing a word, or a beat... tears were in abundance, because what had once seemed dead in her was still alive. Then, as quickly as it had started it ended, and the blank stare returned. Her spirit retreated to the threshold of heaven, and her body and mind continued its journey to death. We have a tendency to watch, or experience the sickness, or the dying of the body, and forget that the soul is healthy, and lives on. Listen to Paul...
“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:38-39 ESV
Unlike our bodies, and minds, our souls don’t suffer from age, disability, or sickness. We might lament, and mourn the death of the body, but God is merciful, and His grace is renewed in us, through Jesus Christ, with each new dawn.
“But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:21-23 ESV
Whether we suffer sickness, infirmity, or death, don’t lose heart, because our spirits, and indeed our souls, are never lost, never abandoned, never left to suffer without recourse, and always in the palm of God’s hand. To us, the most final of these might appear to be death, but even in death our souls remain with God, and even in sickness our spirit is renewed each morning... the spirit of those that suffer, even unto death, and the spirit of those who mourn, are renewed.
“So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”
2 Corinthians 5:6-8 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the eternal nature of our soul, and the hope we have in Jesus Christ. I thank you for the mercy you show us when we suffer sickness and calamity in this world, and I thank you for your grace that rescues our souls from sin and death. Renew our spirits each day Father, and keep our eyes forever focused on you. In our final breath, or our greatest pain, give hope to those who love us, and renew their faith, even as we are being renewed in you. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God who never leaves us, and never loses us. Praised be your name for your mercy and grace that comforts us in our sickness, and makes a way for us to come to you in death. All glory is yours Father for the grace that flows through your Son Jesus, and the sacrifice He made that our hope might abound. I worship you in the joy of my youth, and I worship you in the wasting away in my aging, because my soul remains young in you always. I will praise your name Father, now and forevermore.
“When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory." "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?"”
1 Corinthians 15:54-55 ESV
Rich Forbes