In 1987 Beth was barely pregnant but we had already given the baby a name, “Michael Jerome.” Helena and Alisa had each other, but in our thinking and praying, Greg needed a brother. We had the first doctor appointment behind us and we were on the way to baby number four. Then the call came. She never had spotting or anything else abnormal. Suddenly we were at the doctor’s and told that she had had a miscarriage. We never doubted God’s love, but we had to work through the loss and hurt.
We say a lot of things when we are working through grief and loss. Some is true and some is not true but well intended. The Lord gives us guidance in His Word so that we can have real certainty and comfort.
I remember us saying that the baby was in heaven with the Lord. Was it a really a person? Putting the entire Bible together, the soul and spirit spring to life in a God-designed miracle at the moment of conception. The result is a person known by God and designed by God. That’s Psalm 139 and the virgin birth. Jesus was a living human being the microsecond He was conceived. Wow! Isn’t it interesting that Jesus Himself becomes the assurance of life at conception.
How much of a comfort is it that the baby is in heaven? Paul says that without the knowledge or realization of the Law, a person is still alive before God, meaning that a baby or toddler or mentally challenged person will be accepted before God. What about it being a blessing to go to God? That seems like a sham. It is like trying to put a good face on a lie or a disaster. But get this, Jesus Himself thought it was a blessing to die. "You have heard Me say to you, 'I am going away and coming back to you.' If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, 'I am going to the Father,' for My Father is greater than I.” (John 14:28) Do you get this? Jesus is about to go to the Father, i.e., die, and said that the disciples should be happy for Him. Would it be an honor to meet the queen? Or the president? How much more so the Father, if indeed you could call Him “Father?”
Long story short, the baby was with its Father in heaven. We were happy, but we still cried.
Then it came to us that that child was not only in heaven but was with its grandfather Roger. Roger, Beth’s dad, died in 1956 trying to reach the Auca Indians in Ecuador. He never got to meet his grandchildren. It was an interesting, kind of cleansing, thought. Was that just a sweet thought or was there some reality to that? Again it all comes down to Jesus. Is there activity and perfect knowledge of earth for those who are with the Father in heaven, or is that just our blissful thinking? So then the Lord Jesus, after he had spoken to them, was taken up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went forth and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by the signs that attended it. Amen. (Mark 16:19-20)
So, biblically, Jesus is a human in heaven who is very alert regarding the affairs on earth and very actively involved. That doesn’t sound like “soul sleep” to me. So Roger could be aware of his grandchildren and be with his new grandchild. I may not be able to visualize it, but the Bible and Jesus affirm its truth.
Roger Youderian got to meet one of his grandchildren before any of us. Beth is there now, alive and conscious and with her dad and with “Michael Jerome.”
Actually this isn’t a theological endeavor. When Beth’s body was succumbing to the ovarian cancer in her, we talked about “death.” She told me that it wasn’t death that made her sad, it was missing the weddings and holding the babies. Wow. I understood that and it broke my heart. Beth was a “natural” mother. She gave up a promising career and thrived as a mother. I never understood 1 Timothy 2:15 - Yet woman will be saved through bearing children, if she continues in faith and love and holiness, with modesty. Being a mother was life and health to her.
Helena, Beth’s oldest daughter, has had 4 beautiful children. I’m sure Beth is aware of this and knows them from afar but as of yet, she has never held them. Today, Beth received a gift that was designed by the Father. Just recently Helena discovered that she was pregnant and the first appointment confirmed that her fifth child was on the way. Today that baby is with Beth. We all cry. It is the price we pay living in a lost/dying world, but our Father is working and our Savior is working and we are shown mercy and wonder that defies all of our hurt and sorrow. We know that Beth received her wish and she is finally holding one of those babies.
The Word teaches us that this present life is the tragic foyer we pass through before we enter true life as God intended it. Thankfully a change is on the way. Here and now we follow our Savior reaching the lost and making disciples who make disciples. Through our personal “mess” Jesus has redeemed us with His sacrifice and given us a “message” to those dying around us. But before us is life and in that life are those who have loved Jesus and been forgiven and have been brought into His presence. They wait for the fulfillment of God’s plan and they know we will join them. And now a new person has joined our little group. First came the grandfather, then grandchild, then the daughter and now that daughter has personally embraced a grandchild. What wonderful mercy and kindness by the Father.
So for now I know they are all safe at home. Tomorrow I work and pursue my Lord and give my best to show His love and make disciples. The day will come when I will join them, but now is the harvest. And the thing that is so cool is that this is the Word of God and it is proven in the life and experience of the one who gave His live to save us. khruxon ton logon
No comments:
Post a Comment