On January 29, in the early hours of the morning, my dear Uncle Lloyd (my father's eldest brother) passed away. Lloyd Chadwick leaves behind his wife, Margaret, and his children, and all of us who loved him so.
This very morning, my Uncle Roger Head, husband to my father's eldest sister Shirley, (who is with the Lord) also passed away. My cousin Rick called us during our morning praise and worship—we’ve been having “church” at home on Sunday’s since Dad is recovering from surgery and Mom is preparing for hip replacement surgery on Tuesday.
Both of my uncles died in a state of grace—Jesus was their Lord, Master, and Saviour.
Although our hearts may be heavy at our physical loss of these two loved ones, we are not as those who have no hope. We know that Lloyd and Roger have the grand privilege now of kneeling before the Christ and El-Shaddai—God Almighty—and worshipping in Their presence.
When I received the call about Uncle Roger from Rick, I interrupted our time of worship to let my folks and sister know the news. We spoke of, as my cousin Rick said, my Aunt Shirley waiting at the gates of Heaven for Roger and her brother, Lloyd. Rick said his mother was probably yelling at Roger for taking so long to get there.
Then Mom sang a beautiful song of praise to the Lord for His promises that came straight from her heart as she accompanied herself on the autoharp.
I thought, as I often have at the death of a believer, of how much I long for the day when I can finally see the face of He whom I love most, and kneel before the throne of Yahweh and worship Him with a pure heart. I always feel a tinge of jealousy when I think of how that person, so soon passed away, is in a state of pure joy, pure peace, no more sorrow or pain. Since I became a Christian at age 12, I have felt this way. I feel sorrow for myself, yes, at the physical loss of my loved one—but I also feel envy of their ability to now be with our Father.
After her song, Mom then turned to our morning devotion from Spurgeon’s Morning by Morning, and this is what she read:
What is Unseen (II Corinthians 4:18)
In our Christian pilgrimage, it is well, for the most part, to be looking forward. Forward lies the crown, and onward is the goal. Whether it is for hope, for joy, for consolation, or for the inspiring of our love, the future must, after all, be the grand object of the eye of faith. Looking into the future we see sin cast out, the body of sin and death destroyed, the soul made perfect, and fit to be a partaker of the inheritance of the saints in light. Looking further yet, the believer’s enlightened eye can see death’s river passed, the gloomy stream forded, and the hills of light attained on which stands the celestial city. There we see ourselves enter within the pearly gates, hailed as more than conquerors, crowned by the hand of Christ, embraced in His arms, glorified with Him, and made to sit together with Him on His throne, even as He overcame and sat down with the Father on His throne. The thought of this future may well relieve the darkness of the past and the gloom of the present. The joys of heaven will surely compensate for the sorrows of earth. Be still my doubts! Death is but a narrow stream, and you will soon have forded it. Time, how short—eternity, how long! Death, how brief—immortality, how endless! Even now I seem to be eating of Eshcol’s clusters, and sipping of the well that is within the gate. The road is so, so short! I will soon be there.
Oh, how great is our God that He gives us this word of comfort, and yet, exhortation to stay the course—to not take our eye off the goal for that glory to come is what gives us strength to do what is required of us. And what a reminder of what Uncle Lloyd and Uncle Roger, and all those who’ve gone before, are now experiencing.
And so now, I sit here, writing this, and listening to Mercy Me sing I Can Only Imagine, and I thank God that my uncles with the seraphim are singing, "Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory."
Thank You, Father, for loving us so that You gave Your Son so that we may one day dance before You, surrounded by Your glory.
