The Ultimate Faith

Anyone who has served God faithfully for a long enough period of time knows that above all things he can be trusted. In fact his care for his people is so vast and all encompassing that the apostle Paul made this statement by inspiration of the holy Ghost: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Rom. 8:28). Loving God and ensuring that we are called according to his purpose is the key. If we give him our all and are found to be such, then by his grace we are going to be able to trust him at all times; and I can personally say that some of those times can be very trying. But the ultimate faith is to be able to trust God with death. And not only our own death, but also the death of loved ones. The scripture says of this matter, "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints" (Psm. 116:15). The word ’precious’ here is translated as ‘highly valued.’ When it comes to God’s faithful, I am fully persuaded that an enormous amount of precision, care, love, wisdom, and goodness goes into the design and plan of God to take his dear ones away from the earth. Jesus gave us this assurance of God’s care for us: "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows" (Matt.10:29-31). Oh my friend, I feel a lot of love and care in that statement, and I have to say, that makes me feel really good. If God is involved in a caring manner with the death of sparrows, how much more is he, with great care, in the midst of the death of his loved ones; whom Jesus said are of "more value than many sparrows?” If God’s loved ones mean that much to him, how much do the loved ones of his dear people mean to him? I am certain that like minded care and loving kindness is invested into the death of his people’s loved ones, even if they are not in his fold.

I know that many of us have concerns about what will become of our loved ones that are left behind when our time comes to depart. But the reality is that God will be the same then as he is now, and he can do for them all that he’s done for us, and more; with our without our presence. We can trust that he loves those we love more than we do, and he knows what they mean to us as well. He is very, very good, and he cares far beyond our capacity to understand. So whether it be ourselves, or someone we love, we really have no viable choice but to trust him with this greatest of all trials. We certainly do not want to deal with it, but ultimately we have to do so. The good news is that God never changes, and remains who he is and has always been (Mal. 4:6; Heb. 13:8; Jas.1:17). He is love, and care, and goodness, and grace, and holiness, and all power. He is ‘the Most High’ power in all of existence (Psm. 62:11; Rom. 13:1; Eph. 1:11). And as we have seen, “all things” are caused by him to “work together for the good of those who love him.” It is certain, that the most serious, the most overwhelming and sobering event in the lives of his people is one of those things. If we have lost someone who has been faithful in Christ, we are told to “sorrow not, even as others who have no hope" (I Thess. 4:13). Such have been relieved of a very heavy burden, namely being in this life. If we are not certain about the state of a departed loved one, we simply must realize that God has pulled out all the stops to give someone every opportunity, and ultimately we all either respond or don’t respond to those opportunities; according to the free will granted to us by the Lord. Above all we need to remember that God’s "mercy is great above the heavens" (Psm. 108:4). He alone is able to judge that which is beyond our capacity to see and know, and he is able to do all things. May God grant all of us the grace, the faith, and strength to be prepared for such times and circumstances as these. It’s certain that we need it. God bless.