this is not the end

“There is no better way to glorify God in our deaths than by quietly surrendering all control of our lives to Him, allowing Him to take us home.”  — John Dunlop 

This morning my friend Marlene did just this— and Jesus took her home. She glorified God in her life, glorified God in the way she loved her husband and three young sons, glorified God in the way she so freely and generously loved every single person God placed in her life, glorified God as she fought the cancer in her body while trusting that Christ is sovereign over all things, and glorified God by proclaim and exemplifying the Gospel in everything, even as she died. I have never known a person to live as faithfully, or to die so well as Marlene.

We grieve now, because of our loss. But our grief is mixed with inexpressible joy for her… and a longing for her reward— seeing Christ.

A few very important things:

• As Christians, we do not fear death. We believe that the death of Christ means the “death of death.” Dying is a reward, because it means Heaven. Please see this for a more in-depth explanation of what I mean.
• Death for a Christian, though deeply painful, is less tragic and more bittersweet, because we have hope.
• This song is playing on repeat in my heart right now. “‎”She knows sickness might get her, And death might grab her, But she ain’t scared of death cause she’s trusting in the Master [who] Was buried but rose up a few days after, So death might attack her but death cannot have her.” (Trip Lee)

This song by Andrew Peterson is one of my favorites, and perfectly expresses my thoughts right now.

Lyrics:
This is not the end here at this grave
This is just a hole that someone made
Every hole was made to fill, And every heart can feel it still—
Our nature hates a vacuum

This is not the hardest part of all
This is just the seed that has to fall
All our lives we till the ground, Until we lay our sorrows down
And watch the sky for rain

There is more
More than all this pain
More than all the falling down, and the getting up again
There is more
More than we can see
From our tiny vantage point in this vast eternity
There is more

A thing resounds when it rings true
Ringing all the bells inside of you
Like a golden sky on a summer eve, your heart is tugging at your sleeve
And you cannot say why
There must be more

There is more
More than we can stand, standing in the glory
Of a love that never ends
There is more
More than we can guess, more and more, forever more
And not a second less

There is more than what the naked eye can see
Clothing all our days with mystery
Watching over everything, wilder than our wildest dreams
Could ever dream to be
There is more