Hope

Yesterday I gathered with family that I haven’t seen in many years to mourn the death and celebrate the life of my Aunt Sharon. Her death leaves my mom as the last of her 4 siblings. Cancer took each of her 3 siblings from this earth. It is sad that this was the first time that all of the 12 living cousins have been together as adults. Life gets busy and families drift apart. But none of us would have missed gathering to remember our aunt and mother. She was one of a kind. And though many of us hadn’t seen her in years, we all have memories of her from our growing up years. My aunt did not attend church so the funeral home asked a local pastor to be the minister for the family. Thankfully the minister was not afraid to give a gospel presentation.

My aunt’s best friend since childhood spoke and talked of meeting my aunt when they were children. She told some stories of them growing up. But it was what she ended her time with that gave me hope. Her friend was able to spend some time with my aunt in the last few weeks of her life. She took the opportunity to make sure she shared the gospel with my aunt. Her friend is confident that she will see my aunt again one day in heaven. I trust that God has her in His care.

I just finished reading a book about a man whose wife had cancer and died. The book annoyed me because whoever did the proofreading, did not do a good job. Also it was a bit confusing as it went from the author’s point of view to his daughter’s and back to the author’s. I finished it because I wanted to read how it ended. But I cringed each time they used “since” instead of “sense”. Despite the grammar, spelling errors and changes in point of view, I found it encouraging. The last portion of the book detailed a race that the author participated in which was a solo race in Wyoming. He was dropped into a remote location and had 5 days to run 200 miles through all kinds of terrain. Each day he was expected to make it to the next cabin where he would check in. A couple of days in, he fell and didn’t make his check in so they sent out a search party the next day. During the time the search parties were looking for him, the author was in some kind of dream state. He wrote about how Jesus was there and how Jesus showed him how things had been brought together throughout his life to bring people together and bring them to faith.

The book had a portion that brought in the verse in Hebrews that talks about how we have a great cloud of witnesses. That same verse was discussed last week in the GriefShare group too. “Since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses” is something I have heard recited and read many times. I had always considered that cloud of witnesses as meaning that we have so many that have gone before us that are witnesses to God’s goodness and faithfulness. But the book, as well as those at GriefShare, talked about how that great cloud of witnesses can actually see us. That they are there cheering us on. One of the members of the GriefShare group talked about how he wanted to live life to make his loved one proud of him. That while he wants to make Jesus proud there is also a part that wants his loved one to be proud of him too.

I don’t know that Ben can see what is happening here on earth. Or whether he is cheering us on. What I do know is that his faith is an example to us. He was a witness to God’s goodness and faithfulness. Because of his example and the example of hundreds and thousands of others I should endeavor to run the race that God has set for me. Runners would probably tell you that they would rather run on a flat course and not have to deal with difficult sections. I would rather have life be a flat course and not have too many struggles. But that is not the course that God has set out for me. This part of my course feels like it is straight up the side of a cliff. It is a struggle. But what gets me through is the hope I have that this life is not all there is. That when my time on earth is done that I will join Ben in heaven. That all the struggles here will be worth it. I eagerly look forward to that day. In the meantime, I will run with perseverance the course that God has for me.