A Distant Grief

My decrepit, rickety, and ramshacled old body somehow made it through another 30 days. I’ve had some days this past month when I felt the end was near, and other days when I felt I could limp along a while longer. Whether or not I make it to Sara’s wedding will depend on how I’m feeling the morning of. I’ll give a brief update here on Aug. 4 if I made it or not.

In a discussion about Heaven, R.C. Sproul gave an illustration. He had one audience member stand at his extreme left, representing Adolf Hitler, the epitome of evil. He had another member stand at his far right, representing Jesus Christ. Then he asked, “Where would you place yourself on this continuum?” Most naively placed themselves somewhere near the middle. “Where would you place the Apostle Paul?” Most placed him somewhere near Jesus.

Then R.C. responded, “All of you have a very unBiblical, conceited estimation of your own sense of righteousness. You also have a very shallow understanding of God’s holiness. If you fail to place yourself inches away from Hitler, along with the Apostle Paul, then you fail to comprehend your total depravity, as revealed by the Scriptures (Romans 3:10-12; Eph. 2:1-3).” Once we understand our own degree of depravity and God’s perfect holiness, what remains is not why God chooses to save some and not others, but that He would choose to save anyone at all! Oh, what amazing grace!

In relation to Heaven, imagine God transforming us and qualifying us to stand near Jesus, to share in His holiness (2 Peter 1:4). Imagine in Heaven, living with others in perfect kindness, gentleness, compassion, generosity, humility, and joy. Add to that the unstained beauty of Heaven and we have the perfect recipe for unending happiness. What’s going to be better than all the heavenly gardens, waterfalls, forests, and meadows of our eternal home is being released from this body of sin and purified to stand next to Jesus!

But to get there, I have to first get through this cancer. It’s probably going to get a bit rough at times, especially when I have to struggle to breathe. More pain will likely be involved along the way. But I imagine that once I stand near the Lord in His holiness, the cancer will be nothing but a distant grief buried forever beneath mountains of unrestrained joy. That’s a lot to get excited about!

August 4

Because of all your prayers, the Lord gave me an extra measure of strength to attend Sara’s wedding and even walk her down the isle. I also had strength to mingle with the many attendees. Thank you, again, for praying.