Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled

John 14:1-3 "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also."

Tonight I have heard some disturbing news.  A dear couple, whom I have known since childhood, having gone to school together, have lost their son suddenly.  He was only 29 years old, and the father of two children.  At noon he went in to lie down, and when his father went in to check on him, he was not breathing, and could not be revived. Just that quickly, God had called him home. No warning, no time to pray for him, no time to say good-bye...gone, in a moment's time.  It seems cruel in some ways, not fair...we don't understand why...apparently he even had a fiance'... He was too young...still had his whole life ahead of him.  But he is gone.  My heart is breaking for that family...his parents, his children, his fiance', his brother and others who loved him.

I guess this hits me really hard because we have been dealing with life and death issues in our own family...our son, who is only 37, is battling a very deadly disease, cancer.  And yet, we have high hopes...the Doctors have been somewhat encouraging in that they believe they have caught it in time to treat it and hopefully bring about a cure.  We've been given time to pray for him, to help him fight for his life, to spend time with him and encourage him and love him. For this kindness we are eternally grateful to God.

Yet, none of us are guaranteed any time on this earth...we are here because God brought us into existence and placed us here. But no man knows how many days, months, years or decades he may live.  I am not trying to be morbid...but truthful.  This life that we've been given is exactly that...a gift.  There are no guarantees of long life, good health, or financial wealth.  There is a fragile thread that holds us between life and death. A "silver cord" that holds us here...but then comes the real life...the real joy...

"Someday the silver cord will break, and I no more as now shall sing;

But, oh, the joy when I shall wake within the palace of the King!"

Chorus:

"And I shall see Him face to face and tell the story--saved by grace;

And I shall see Him face to face, and tell the story--saved by grace."

"Someday my earthly house will fall, I cannot tell how soon 'twill be;

But this I know, my All in All has now a place in heaven for me."

(Chorus)

"Someday, when fades the golden sun beneath the rosy-tinted west,

My blessed Lord will say, "Well done!" And I shall enter into rest.

(Chorus)

"Someday, till then I'll watch and wait, My lamp all trimmed and burning bright,

That when my Saviour opes the gate, My soul to Him may take its flight!"

(Chorus:)

"And I shall see Him face to face, and tell the story--saved by grace!

And I shall see Him face to face, and tell the story, saved by grace."

I love this old-fashioned hymn, "Saved by Grace", written by Fanny Crosby (1820-1915), whom I believe was blind.  It is a beautiful testimony of her faith in Christ and His promise to prepare a place for her in heaven.  I, too, claim this promise, and look forward to that day "when I shall wake within the palace of the King!"

My prayers are with my friends tonight as they are grieving this great loss in their family. There are no words that can fully comfort them at this time. I can only pray that God's Holy Spirit, our Great Comforter, will undergird them with His Mighty Arms, and hold them close and calm their hearts. I pray that they will think about their son, safe in the arms of Jesus, and in the palace of the King.  We have this great hope of heaven, through Christ our Lord. Amen.