Today was a hard day. My husband did his first funeral as a pastor today. It was a hard funeral to do. The husband of one of our church members committed suicide this week & there was much dissension between this man's family and his wife. The tension of the atmosphere in funeral home was thick in the air. As I sat there in the funeral home, holding a child on each side of me, and listening to my husband I was praying for him fervently. For God to anoint him. For the Lord to give him words. For the Lord to comfort all the people there who were hurting, but mostly for my husband because the situation wasn't easy. It was after several minutes I realized I wasn't even breathing... I had been holding my breath! Bitterness surrounded us in a mighty way. So much so, the funeral home separated the families to opposite sides of the room. It felt like a Hatfield vs McCoys feud. So as you can read, there were many factors affecting this funeral... and even some other factors too personal to this family that I won't even mention.
In the middle of his sermon he presented the gospel of Jesus as the only hope in light of the uncertainty they were all feeling, and several people got up and walked out. We didn't have the chance to know her husband well as he had only come to our church just a few times, but he was a nice man. We also weren't sure if he was a believer in Jesus as his Savior.. and his wife also wasn't certain. Although we don't have hope to know for certain if he is now in Heaven.. we can still have hope in the One who reigns in Heaven! (Let me stop and say that although suicide is a sin and selfish.. I also want to be sure to say that it doesn't cause us to lose our salvation. If someone is saved and in such a desperate state that they commit suicide, then they are still in Heaven with the Father. We cannot ever lose ourr salvation. Our salvation is for eternity. The only way to miss Heaven is if you do not believe that Jesus Christ is the Savior of your sins.) All of that being said, this was my husband's first funeral as a new pastor and it was difficult to prepare for & speak life into. Speaking the truth in love is never easy, but he did it & I'm so proud of him!
Our big kids came with us and sat at the funeral home quietly and still for 2 hours. It was a huge expectation for them, but they did it and I am proud of them too! As a ministry family, then it is most important to me that they understand the true meaning of serving Jesus. Sometimes, this means doing hard things, difficult things, boring things... sometimes it means doing acts of service for others that require our time and/or our money. I prepped them, "I need you to have the most self control you've ever had in your entire life. This will be very hard and it won't be fun. Please know within yourself that it's going to be very boring. But today is not about us. Today is about our friend and we get to serve her today by being here for her today. By serving her, then we get to serve Jesus. *That* is why we're here on Earth... to serve Jesus." They both replied okay and they were so well behaved and made this Momma so very proud. Sometimes, life just isn't about us, is it? It's a hard lesson, but one I want my children to learn early.
Days like today make me somber even though I'm proud. To know that we are never promised tomorrow and bad things happen and we don't always have the answers. But God knows! He holds us in His loving arms. It makes me thankful that I know my Savior. It makes me grateful for this family I've been given, and to show them my love even more. It makes me proud to see our small church come together and bless a family in need. Today, even though my thoughts & heart feel reflective.. I am proud and grateful for the goodness of God that surrounds me. I hope that you can also start your 2016 out thinking about what God means to you, what He has done in your life, and what journey awaits you this year.
Despite hardships and heartaches.. He is still God and He sits on the Throne.. and what a privilege it is to honor & worship Him! If you don't know this Savior I speak of, then let me invite you to consider a personal relationship with Him. Jesus is the only hope we have in this very broken, fallen world! He is the Author of all creation... including you! He is the only One who can satisfy the brokenness we feel when things happen that we truly don't understand.
Romans 10:9
Admit to Jesus that you're a sinner
Believe that Jesus Christ is Lord and died on the cross for your sins and was raised again from the dead 3 days later
Confess your faith in Jesus Christ and you are saved!
Saved from your sins. Saved from eternal separation from God when you die. Saved from hopelessness and despair.
Share your decision with someone... a Christian friend, a pastor, a mentor. Asked to be baptized as this is the first public confession of your faith. Don't be ashamed or embarrassed... this is a time to rejoice!
Numbers 6:25
"May the LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you"
No comments:
Post a Comment
The Administrator of this blog will delete any comments that are seen as offensive.