Faith and the Ultimate Trial

I’ll leave this deliberately vague, although many of you know the specifics.  We just lost a very dear friend and brother tonight.  When we last visited him, he told us he was ready to go home to be with God.  We know he was.  And it struck me then as it does now and as it did when my own grandfather said something similar – death is the final and ultimate trial; yet for those who love the Lord, when the time draws near, they don’t shrink away.  They are giants of faith.  They are ready.

In Bible class this past Sunday we hit an old, familiar theme – the interplay of faith and trial.  My wife simply stated as she looks back on her life, she can see where God was the one who got her through the toughest challenges of her life.  This is where she gains strength in present challenges – to know God will see us through because He always has.  The difficulty for us most of the time, I think, is that every challenge is slightly different.  It’s like the disciples in the boat on the raging sea – sure, Jesus could take care of the sick and demon possessed, but a storm?  Yes, a storm.  And so, each time God sees us through some new challenge, our faith is strengthened to see Him as more than able to handle what comes our way.  Until, finally, we come to face death, that biggest of trials.  It is the ultimate unknown and therefore takes great faith – yet God has seen us this far.  And just as every word He has spoken to us is true, just as He has kept every promise to keep us in His care no matter what, He will honor that promise not to the end, but through the end, as we are changed from glory into glory.

To our friend and brother – thank you for showing us the way.  We will see you again….