“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.” Proverbs 3:5-6
I want to begin this by thanking you all for the incredible love and support that you have covered my family with these past couple of months. My sweet grandmother left us for the strong arms of Jesus the last day of 2011 and, as my dad and his brother and sister put it, “had the best New Years ever”. Though the past couple months have been a struggle, I am reminded of the promise and blessing we have in our Lord who is always and forever faithful. As David Beck, the pastor for her funeral, looked through her bible he uncovered the faith of this beautiful woman who knew that her place would be with Jesus forever, and she was ready!
One thing I will never forget is the morning we went to view my grandmother’s body, as the rest of it would be a closed casket. I can remember standing between Ben and Emily and really not wanting to go up there. As we came up to say our goodbyes to this woman who left us a legacy of laughs, basketball competitions and loving her family, my whole attitude changed…you see…that was not my grandmother in that casket! When we face death, I think we are so emotional that we forget the facts of our faith and simply try to cling desperately to any hope or comfort we can. That morning I can remember turning to Ben and saying, “oh yea…that’s not her is it?” it was like a light bulb clicked. My grandmother loved her Lord, our Lord, and because of God’s redemptive work, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Granny was with Him that very day in Paradise. Amen.
In our own understanding, death does not seem to make any sense. Why would a God who is so good and loves us so much allow something that causes such pain? In that moment I am realizing how small my faith is. How often do I cling with a vise-like grip to the shadow of living that this world consists of? The bible tells us that when our earthly lives are over, and we trust Jesus as our Lord, we get to come into His kingdom…and how much sweeter and more wonderful must be the Kingdom of God than the Kingdom of this earth? Lord give me a heart not to fear it, but to long for it!
So coming into a New Year I want to claim this verse for myself and those of you that wish to join me in it. My own understanding has failed and the Lord has shown me Grace and Love when those were the only things that made sense. There is much to be done in 2012, it is a year of mission and hope and great expectations! As we start the journey this year will take us on, I want profess my lack of understanding and claim the Truth that as we acknowledge the Lord in all our ways, He will provide the knowledge we lack and the Light for our path!
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