Over the past few days some notables have passed from this scene of life. I did not know them personally, but as I think about who they are, and what they represent, then I feel like I need to share.
Dr Warren Wiersbe. Prolific author and faithful child of God. (05/02/19) I have read many of his books, and my library has plenty of testimony of how well his books were applied to my ministry. I read a tribute his grandson wrote to him, and glowing words cannot more readily state the feeling of loss than these two paragraphs:
But the best part for me is the part he didn’t get to see. Because when I shared the news with my older two kids that my Grandpa had died, my kids, who are just 5 and 4 years old, they comforted me with the sweetest reminders. “Daddy, I feel so sad for you,” my little daughter said to me. “But is Grandpa in heaven?” “Yes, Grandpa is in heaven because he loved Jesus and I am certain he is in heaven.”
And then with all the theological prowess of a prophet, my little girl told me, “Then daddy, if Grandpa loved Jesus, then Jesus is welcoming him home today. Because Jesus died on the cross to forgive our sins, we can be right with God, and when we die, we know we will live forever with him in heaven. That means Grandpa is finally able to see what Jesus looks like and meet him face to face. And I love Jesus too. I’d give Jesus 10,000 stars if I could.”
~Dan Jacobsen, “Be Remembered: My Grandpa, the Bridge Builder”
And then, just yesterday, a young mother, Rachel Held Evans, who described herself on her Twitter account, where over 164,000 people followed her path to Christ:
“Doubt-filled believer, author of Inspired, Searching for Sunday, A Year of Biblical Womanhood, Faith Unraveled. Wife of @danieljonce”
Her last tweet about her situation was on April 14, 2019:
“If you’re the praying type – I’m in the hospital with a flu + UTI combo and a severe allergic reaction to the antibiotics they gave me. (I’m totally going to miss GOT!”
We hear nothing else from her. Seizures, induced coma, and then silence. The infection took her life in less than 3 weeks, leaving the family in grief and so many shocked because so many were praying.
Today, I cannot help but think of how God chooses the time for someone to no longer be here. Our life is so short…and we know that only what’s done for Christ will last. But we cannot stop what we know we should be doing just because someone has passed on.
It was the half brother of Jesus writing what I cannot but help believe was tribute to Jesus when he said:
“Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow.
For what is your life?
It is even a vapour,
that appeareth for a little time,
and then vanisheth away.”
James 4:14 KJV
Think about it. He may simply be writing an epistle for all of us, but I think he was thinking about Jesus. So soon he was taken away…
When James penned his verse about the shortness of life, a vapor that is here, and then gone. I think he was thinking about Jesus. Gone too soon. Share on XThink about Paul who knew his time was at hand (2 Timothy 4:6), his last letter of instructions to Timothy pointed his protégé’s eyes to the future work that the church had to accomplish. The entire church benefited from his work and writing, but I imagine Timothy, if he ever had anything to say about Paul, well, I’m sure he would have communicated like James, or Dan.
Look further back to Moses. 120 years old, and he’s about to pass off the scene. He tells Israel they must keep moving forward, and God will accomplish his plan for them only if they keep their part of the covenant! (Deuteronomy 31)
Here’s my thought today. Our work does not revolve around one person’s leadership and when they are gone we end up doing nothing except express our grief that a friend or loved one is gone.
Rather, each of us have something to offer, our part of the puzzle, our piece of the pie – and it could have easily come as a result of one of these who have left us. Timothy. James. Dan. Great grandaughters. Examples of those who show us life goes on. God has more for us! We must keep working! There is much work to do. And with the passing of those who have been called home, this means that there is more work for each of us.
How about you? Have you lost someone and just felt like giving up? Taking it easy? This is not the time to step back, slow down, or take it easy. Get back into the game! There’s a lot of things left to do. God’s reaching for you, he has more for you to live, and to do.
God has more for you!