Heaven’s gain . . .

Genesis 18; Nehemiah 7; Matthew 17; Acts 17

Last night about 10:30 the heaviness of waiting and concern for my sister lifted. At that moment, I knew that Jesus was reaching out to take her hand and lead her home. The call came early this morning but I already knew. She is with Jesus and for that I rejoice.

God sometimes makes the future known to His people. The first passage I read today described how the Lord came with two angels and had lunch with Abraham. As these heavenly visitors left, the passage included this:

Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do . . . ?” (Genesis 18:16–17)

My best friend is gone. We were buddies. I cannot remember ever having an argument with her. She was more than a sister, a double sister in Christ. We shared so much. And Jesus let me know what He was about to do.

I kept reading. In Matthew, the Lord again revealed to His people what was going to happen . . .

As they were gathering in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.” And they were greatly distressed. (Matthew 17:22–23)

Of course they were distressed. He’d told them before and they didn’t get it, but now they understood. Their beloved Jesus was going to die. It seems the resurrection part was beyond their comprehension, but they did realized that His death was eminent. He let them know and even the distress was part of His way of preparing them. Such is our Lord. He knows what we need to know.

My sister’s main caregiver was her daughter-in-law. We talked about her and agreed that my sister had an evangelistic heart. She wanted everyone to know about Jesus. God blessed me as I read this passage from Acts. He whispered to me that this is what my sister wanted to say to all the people she met:

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for “ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:24–31)

I know that Jesus is holding her hand. He has led her for many years and now she is with Him and all the struggles of the past few years are over. She spent her last day with family and hearing His Word read. She was excited. She was ready. And because of the grace of God, even though I will miss her so much, He helped me be ready also.