Celebrate
Celebrate
Death has been swallowed up in victory. Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting? (1 Cor. 15:54–55)
My mother-in-law, Gayle, had been battling breast cancer, but she felt well enough to participate in a walkathon against the disease. She finished, exhausted but proud. A month later we learned the cancer had spread to her brain. Before we could grasp that news, she passed away.
We weren’t ready to let her go. My husband had always been close to her; she was more of a mother to me than my own mom, and our kids adored her. How were we going to carry on?
A month later my friend Katy called. She knew how much I was grieving. She said gently, “Pam, you know Gayle was a believer, right?”
“Yes. She lived her life for the Lord.”
“And you know Gayle is in heaven with the Lord Jesus, right?”
“Yes,” I said.
“Then rejoice for her. This is what she has always wanted, deep inside her heart. To be with her Lord and Savior. To see His face, hear His voice, talk with Him. She is in the presence of the Love of her life, right where she wants to be.”
I knew it was true. I still couldn’t help saying, “But what about us?”
“You all miss her, I know, and you need to grieve. But focus on this: Gayle’s greatest dream has finally come true. Her pain is gone; her deepest longing has been fulfilled. And you will see her again someday. But for now celebrate for her. It will ease your aching heart.”
Yes, if the loved one is a believer, we can take comfort in knowing that she or he is now living forever with our God, and we will join them someday. It’s what we’ve always truly longed for—the hope of heaven is a reality!