The Recommendation Series – Live Today!

I’ve lived a long life. I’ve laughed, had dreams, and suffered much heartache. Through it all, God has been present. He’s known about it all and planned only the best for me.

In the good times I’ve learned how to sit back and relax, breathing in the summer air and watching the colors of fall sprinkle through the trees. I’ve held my own newborn babies and then felt that softness in my heart again with my grandchildren. I’ve watched young believers energetically rise above their circumstances and boldly walk into their new lives of faith with enthusiasm. Ah, good times.

Then the days of adversity appear and my reaction to them challenges my relationship with Christ. Will I accept His comfort and rest in the reassurance of His care? Or do I challenge Him on every front with not only questions but also a fighting tongue with actions to match? Do I cringe away in unbelief that a God of justice has put me through yet another faith test?

Recently, two friends of mine passed away. One was very old and one was my age. The older saint was ushered into heaven with praises for a life well lived and hallelujahs for his relief from pain. The other one was just so sad. She was a person in her prime waiting for an easier life in retirement with her mate. That’s not going to happen now. There will be new plans made and new dreams. I know that path, for I’ve already walked it.

What we have to remember in these two cases is that both of them were believers. They are experiencing heaven in a way we cannot begin to know about. They are walking down streets of heaven, seeing saints from the Bible who can tell them all those stories face-to-face now. What an amazing experience that must be!

It’s too many funerals for me in one month, but the one thing I’m taking from them is this: I’m living my life every day like it was my last. I’m more driven now than ever to tell kids about Jesus and make sure my relatives know about Him, too. The desire to meet some personal goals in my spiritual life has been put on the top rung, not in the middle or near the bottom. The stuff mart has stopped and my hands have become open to whatever God is giving me. He will bless the giver and give peace to the faithful.