"God Is STILL A Good God" October 25, 2017

How do you return to your life after a piece of it has been removed? You can’t. The life as I once knew it has been forever changed. It doesn’t exist anymore except through memories. Like an amputee must learn to live without their limb, so must I learn to live without my mom. Meanwhile, the rest of the world goes on around me as if nothing happened at all. They laugh, they love, they work, they are thankful this didn’t happen to them. That’s how I would feel if I were them. Thankful that I still have my mom. Thankful that I can see and talk to her. Thankful that I will spend the holidays with her. Thankful that I will spend many more years with my mom and my children would grow up with a Grandma. I would be ever so thankful.

Psalm 62:8  says to “Trust in him at all times... pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.” And this is what I will do: I will trust Him. I will trust Him even in the face of tragedy, hurt and excruciating loss. Because God is STILL a good God and I will praise His name. “Then I heard a voice from heaven say, ‘Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.’” - Revelation 14:13.

“All your works praise you, LORD; your faithful people extol you.” Psalm 145:10. Mom praised the Lord our God. She did so in obedience, in speech, in song and in dance. Mom had such a strong heart for God that it pained her greatly to see and hear the sin in this world. So much so, in fact, that even some of what I would consider “appropriate” TV shows and music made her uncomfortable. It pained her even more to see brothers and sisters in Christ be misled by false teachings and false teachers. I think this quote by Ben Shapiro best summarizes how my mom felt about the Word of the Lord, the Bible, "You can't sacrifice truth because some people are going to suffer because of the truth." Mom was an advocate for the Truth of God. Some people didn’t want to hear it or chose to ignore it. But that’s an unfortunate loss for them.

“This is the fate of those who trust in themselves, and of their followers, who approve their sayings. They are like sheep and are destined to die; death will be their shepherd (but the upright will prevail over them in the morning). Their forms will decay in the grave, far from their princely mansions. But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead; he will surely take me to himself. Do not be overawed when others grow rich, when the splendor of their houses increases; for they will take nothing with them when they die, their splendor will not descend with them. Though while they live they count themselves blessed— and people praise you when you prosper— they will join those who have gone before them, who will never again see the light of life. People who have wealth but lack understanding are like the beasts that perish.”
Psalm 49:13-20

I often wondered why it seems that the lives of those who walk the closest to God are shortened. But when I read about what Jesus said regarding “the last days” in the book of Matthew, he says this, “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.”
Matthew 24:22.

Mom was not perfect and I’m sure she wouldn’t consider herself “elect.” She would be the first to tell you that. However, by letting Christ Jesus work in her and through her, those imperfections were made perfect through Him. Mom was always happy to use her life to encourage, bless and speak the truth to those around her to the best of her ability even until her death. We saw the fruit of this first-hand. During the first calling hours, which were supposed to go from 2-4pm, they went from 2-5pm and over 300 people came. During the second calling hours, which were supposed to go from 6-8pm, they went from 6-10pm and more than 300 people came. These people were all just a fraction of the number my mom touched in some way. It was so inspiring.

And, with the help of Jesus, I want to carry on mom’s legacy by doing the same. I don’t want to sacrifice truth because some people are going to suffer because of the truth. Just as in times past, truth is on trial again. With bias news articles, reports and stories, finding the truth these days is challenging. But Jesus is the Truth. “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’”
John 14:6.

Originally published to Facebook 10/25/17