DEATH: NOT THE PREFERRED OPTION

In 1989, my mother went in for a biopsy of a lump on her neck.  She took Philippians 4:6 with her into the procedure:  "BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING, BUT IN EVERYTHING BY PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION WITH THANKSGIVING LET YOUR REQUESTS BE MADE KNOWN TO GOD." 

Of course our family and friends were also letting our requests be known to God.  We asked for "benign" but Mother's answer came back "malignant" (non-Hodgkins lymphoma).  Then we turned to the verse which followed:  "AND THE PEACE OF GOD, WHICH SURPASSES ALL COMPREHENSION, SHALL GUARD YOUR HEARTS AND YOUR MINDS IN CHRIST JESUS." 

We knew the course was to be bumpy, but Mother knew the Lord promised to set a guard of peace over her heart and mind.  And part of that peace came in knowing the One who could just have easily made the lump harmless...was still working the plan that He had for her life.  She was to bring Him glory in the way she trusted Him...and she did.

Meanwhile, she would fight with all her might to live.  There was chemo, hair loss, and then the disease went into remission for an 18-month sigh of relief.  Another lump brought dread as we waited to see if the lymphoma had returned.  Again we prayed that the Lord would take it away.  He did not.

In the interim as Mother did what she called "couch duty"... our Tender Shepherd loved on Mother through countless expressions of concern from friends and neighbors.

Mother was sanguine and part of several different communities.  There were the parents of the toddlers she taught in church, BSF Children's Leaders, her church small cell group, friends from her hometown (Des Arc), the town where they raised their family (Jonesboro), and from Little Rock.  All those connections brought such loving offers of help and food and cards and visits.

But when the lights went out at night and Daddy was asleep, it was just Mother and the Lord.  Would she look past her circumstances to His promises?  We watched her grow sweeter as the days went by.  Her outer shell was dissipating, but her inner man gained strength.  And on the day that she died, the family encircled her, sang to her, read Scripture and prayed over her as we thanked the Lord for her life and the way she had loved us well.

Isn't it strange how we seem to fight coming into this world and going out, too?  In Mother's case, she was blessed to be able to live at home until just a hospital stay of one week.  But what about others who suffer prolonged pain and death?  Doctors can help and hospice is a wonderful blessing.  It is one thing to get help from pain, but another thing to intentionally end life.

It stands to reason that the God who gives us life with a purpose ALSO has a purpose in our death.  We watched many nurses and friends leave Mother's hospital room in tears as she lived her faith.  We saw 300+ people turn out for a celebration service that held God HIGH and included words explaining how to come to Him.

A person on their deathbed often has measured breath and we lean in to be sure we hear all they want to convey.  When all else fades away, the important things rise to the top.  What could be more important than how to find the road to heaven?  Mother was a great road sign.

Have you heard of the young woman named Brittany Maynard who is dying and has made public the day she will die?  She moved to Oregon and bought a pill to end her life.  That act takes her life into her hands, but the Book says it is HE who has made us and not we ourselves.  Our lives do not belong to us.

Hearts go out to Brittany as she faces death at only twenty-nine years old.  With so much on her plate, has she factored in what God has planned for her?  We don't know because she makes no mention of God.  Do any of us  know when our testimony is over?  And aren't there always surprises in medicine?

In Brittany's interviews, she comes across as very articulate and reasoned in her quest for "dignity".  But our dignity comes from being made in the image of God and in our commitment to His cause.  Perhaps this young woman's fears have pushed her away from trusting God.  Perhaps she does not know that possessing God's Son saves us from death.  If the latter, she will be leaving earth too soon.

Life is more than a bucket list or getting our way because life is not about us.  Life is knowing Jesus, who has bought our ticket and has gone ahead of us to prepare our place.  We go home at His bidding.