Recently, a very near and dear member of our congregation went home to glory. We had a wonderful memorial service that was a blessing to all Christian folks and a loving indictment to the unbelieving who were in attendance. Her faithful obedience to our God in the midst of her prolonged fight with cancer further endeared her to us. And her consistent trust in our Father encouraged us to walk with Him in the valley of the shadow of death until He brings us home. Many tears were shed but not as those who have no hope, for we know that we will walk with her one day in the midst of the garden in the cool of the day in eternity and He Himself will wipe away every tear.
Below are some of the words I shared at that service. I hope that it might encourage even one. God bless.
How good is God? Because right now, in the face of death, many of you don’t feel that He is good. How can He be good when things like this happen?
God is so good that though we were dead in our trespasses and sins, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. God is so good that even though we have nearly destroyed His world, marred His image, mock His name, ridicule His book, and murdered His son – He is still willing to forgive.
He was willing to forgive a girl like Denise even though she was a rebel and sinned directly and defiantly against Him during her life. Her voice was among the mockers at the cross and her sin helped nail Him to the tree.
And yet it was for her that He was willing to send His Son to die.
God is so good that He would take a sinner like Denise and turn her into a saint, an heir, a partaker of the Divine Nature! Hers was a life He redeemed from the pit; He was willing to buy her out of the slave market of sin with the priceless blood of His own son. And He was not content to leave her there – but He then set her on His narrow way – and He never let go.
We all loved Denise, but why I loved her was not for who she was but for who God made her to be.
You see, God is good, so good that He was willing to take her from the dark domain of self and transfer her into His marvelous light. And now, at last, that transference is complete. And she is now encompassed in the unapproachable light that is our heavenly Father.
Mourn your loss. Comfort the family. But rejoice for her, for she is in the Promised Land – will you meet her there?
