A couple weeks ago, my Mom had to take my Dad to the Emergency Department. Due to all of the Covid issues, Mom just had to drop him off at the door and was unable to go in with him. This was a little after 9:00 AM. She called to let me know and I went to the hospital to sit with her. Mom wanted to remain close to the door in case someone did happen to come looking for her to give her an update, so we sat on the bench outside the ED most of the day.
I will not go into all the details, but that was just an awful day. Hours went by with no word, no update. When I finally got a number to call directly to the ED, little information was given. It was hard on my Mom just sitting there, unable to be with the man she had been hand-in-hand with for over 60 years. And my Dad was never told we were waiting outside for any word we could get, or that we had called in and asked that he be told we loved him. In fact, he was worried something had happened to his wife and they were keeping it from him.
Mom finally got to go see him the next afternoon. He could only have one visitor but just knowing Mom was with him helped my feelings a lot. After a couple days in the hospital, Dad was able to come home. He is still very weak but will resume chemo treatments next week.
Thinking back on those hours of separation and not knowing what his condition was made me think about spiritual matters. For those who have a personal relationship with Christ, we know where our eternal home will be. And we also know that those who never receive Christ as their Savior will one day be separated forever from Christ and from those loved ones who are in Christ. Thinking of those who will spend an eternity apart from Christ is heart wrenching.
When Mom and I couldn’t get word from my Dad, we were troubled. We couldn’t know for sure that anyone was watching him and taking care of his needs. But when Mom could be with him, it made a huge difference in our anxiety level. She was able to assist him and just be in his presence. When we know our loved one who has passed away is with Christ, it can make a huge difference in our level of grief than when we know someone died without Christ. The difference is in the knowing they’re in loving hands.
The greatest gift you can give to your loved one is to assure them of your relationship with Christ. I praise God that I have parents who will surely spend an eternity in heaven. And if the Lord tarries His coming, the day may come when I am separated from them on this side of eternity. But I know where they will be and where I shall also be when I breathe my last breath.
How about you? Will your separation from those you love be temporary or permanent?
Thank you, Dad, for the assurance any separation from you will only be temporary!
“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a Man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. But God raised Him from the dead, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.” Acts 2:22-24 NASB
“Now I say this, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold, I am telling you a mystery; we will not all sleep, but we will all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 But when this perishable puts on the imperishable, and this mortal puts on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. 55 Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 15:50-57 NASB