Sunday, August 14, 2011

Blessed Assurance

"Mom, did your dad love God?", Abigail asked as I put her to bed. "Yes, honey, I think he did", I answer.

"Will I see him in heaven?"

"Yes, I think you will."

"Good", is all she says in response.

The next morning comes and Abigail is still thinking about my father.  She asks again if she will see him in heaven.   Again, I tell her yes.  This is the easy answer.  The real answer is too complicated for her little five year old heart to handle.

It has been almost 17 years since my father passed away.  It shocks me to type that number.  Is it really possible that I have lived almost half of my life without him?  The reality is that I have lived without him even longer than that.  For even when he was alive, he was not a constant presence in my life.

I wish that I had an assurance that I would see my father again someday.  I think I will, I hope, I pray.  I know that my father heard the message of salvation many times.  He heard it from his mother, my mother and from preachers at church. 

The Easter before he died, he attended a play at my high school.  At the end of the performance, the pastor asked everyone to bow their heads and close their eyes.  He then asked those who wanted to accept Jesus as their savior to stand.  I could not help it.  I peaked.  To my amazement my father was standing.

And this is what I hang on to.  I don't know what went on in his heart between him and God that evening.  It is my prayer that he yielded his life to the Lord.  I wish that I had been brave enough to ask him.  I wish that my fear of making him upset with me was not greater than my desire to see him enter into the presence of God. 

And maybe that is the lesson to be learned.  We never know how much longer we are going to have with those that we love.  Let us always be looking for opportunities to share the message of salvation.  Let our fear of rejection not be greater than our desire to see our loved ones spend eternity in heaven.

Is there someone in your life who needs to hear the message of Christ's gift of eternal life?  Begin by praying for them and asking God to soften their hearts.  Pray that opportunities to share will present themselves and that He will give you the words to say.  Pray that when asked if you will see that person again someday, there will be no doubt or questioning, but rather complete assurance of where they stand before God.

Someday when I get to heaven, even though I am not sure if my earthly father will be waiting for me, I know that my Heavenly Father will be beckoning me to come to him with open arms.  Of that I can be certain.

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7 comments:

  1. I'm sure we will be surprised at who will and will not be there. Hope is a beautiful thing.

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  2. "I wish that my fear of making him upset with me was not greater than my desire to see him enter into the presence of God." I could have written those exact words about my Father.
    Why is it so hard to share the greatest gift of all with those we love the most? Thank you for opening your heart and for the admonition to not let fear, rejection or anything else keep us from sharing Christ.
    ~Stacy

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  3. I was just praying for my husband last night -- he is trying to undertake a new goal -- and I prayed that even if he is rejected by man, that he would not take it as a reflection on him, that he would continue to run the race for God and allow God to use what man does to further fuel his fire.

    So often I become about me and my image instead of being about God and His image. If I keep focused on Him, things that are not really all that important seem to fall away. I don't want any part of me to get in the way of people seeing Him.

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  4. I have been praying for opportunities to share with a certain someone in my life...

    Thanks for the encouragement.

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  5. Beautiful....echoing Amy...thank you so much for the encouragement!

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  6. So sweet that your daughter cares about someone who she's never met. God's grace is amazing. We've seen a big answer to prayer in the salvation of my husband's sister. There are others and I am thankful for the gentle challenge you gave.

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  7. Heather,

    So fun to read this post. Tender.

    I'm looking forward to hearing you post more stuff. :)

    Jennifer
    www.jenniferdougan.com

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