Touch their hearts, Father; Open their Eyes to Encounter You
“When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”
(Colossians 3: 4 NASB)
The day begins.
We drink some coffee.
We read our Bible.
We pray.
We don our clothes, thinking only of our day ahead that we must face.
We gather our satchel, our keys, our other “baggage” and head out the door.
We drive in traffic, darting in and out, hurrying to get to work, when in reality, we went to work when we first opened our eyes.
We arrive at work, greet co-workers, answer emails, prepare documents.
Did we ask God to direct our day?
Did we ask God to give us an opportunity to share our testimony with someone who is lost?
We “put in” a full day’s work.
We drive home, darting in and out of traffic, hurry to get home to work some more.
We prepare dinner, pay bills, pick up, straighten up, and prepare our minds to “get up” earlier tomorrow than we did today because we have so much to accomplish that we just cannot get it all done.
We may or may not need to set our alarm as we fall into bed and feel the sweetness of rest that our bed affords.
Did we pray, thanking God for the day He gave OR Did we drift off to sleep too fast?
We toss and turn as we try to stay asleep.
We arise early, without the need of an alarm, and we do it all over again—on this new day.
Help us Lord, to remember that there is so much more to this life than this life.
We encounter and walk into certain life-situations that have the power to change us, and had we known these encounters would have changed us so much, then we would have taken off our wristwatch, placed it up high on the shelf, & stayed within that situation, within that encounter just a little while longer.
Touch their hearts, Father!
Open their Eyes to Encounter You!
DECEMBER 5, 2010 became a day of change for me.
On that day, my precious mother-in-law arrived home.
Go with me, back to that day in 2010, as those present remember the sweet details.
It was really early, the wee hours. The room was without light, except the hallway light that filtered in whenever the door opened and closed and except for the small light above her bed. She appeared to be asleep, and I wondered if she was asleep or in some other state provided by God. It was quiet within the room as we quietly spoke to one another in hushed voices.
The nurses had moved us to this room, a final earthly place of rest for her, the last earthly bed she would lie within before she passed. Truthfully, she looked more peaceful here, today, then she had looked in days, and I wondered: Why the change? Had God already given her a glimpse of her eternal resting place, and now she was finally at peace, even though her heartbeat continued beating, as she remained.
Did she remain for us?
The three of us surrounded her bed—my husband (her son), my sister-in-law (her daughter), and me (a daughter-in-law to a beautiful mother).
We gave her water with the small pink sponge the nurse had provided.
She had no need of food, and really, she had not seemed hungry for days, as her body prepared itself for death.
She lay so still, so at rest, as the day began to break and the sky began to gain color through the window.
Sometime (I really am not sure of the time), her eyes opened, wider than I had ever seen them open, and I remember wondering: Is she looking at us or does she see something more?
“Mom?” The word was spoken, but she never turned her head, even though her eyes looked straight ahead toward the ceiling across the room.
- 7:30 am came to us, the living. I remember looking at the clock on my phone.
- 7:30 am came to her that morning too, as the Lord arrived and took her home.
Tomorrow will be the anniversary of my mother-in-law’s death day, of the day she arrived home in heaven.
“HAPPY ARRIVE HOME DAY, LETTY!”
- What a glorious reunion day that must have been in glory, the day she arrived home.
- What a glorious moment that day must have been, the day she clearly saw Jesus come and take her home.
While I have lived so many days upon this earth, and though I have arisen early many of them, that beautiful day remains emblazoned in my mind as one of the sweetest, most precious days of my life. Since that day, I have shared the “going home” day with my father-in-law and with my grandma, realizing that each precious day remains most wonderful within my heart. One day, I too will arrive home, and then, we will gather and share eternity together around Jesus our Savior and Redeemer. While I don’t really understand exactly how heaven will look, the Bible does assure us of its existence and of its reality, reminding us that we will be known as we are known. So one day, we will meet together with those saints who have gone on ahead of us, who reside there with Jesus.
“Therefore, if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
(Colossians 3: 1-4 NASB)
Set your minds on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth.
For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”
Father God,
We come today, bowing in humble gratefulness, thanking You for our salvation. Father, we ask You to touch the hearts of those we know, those we love, and those we encounter who do not know You as Savior and Lord. Open their eyes, Lord, to see You, to encounter You today.
Father, we ask this request today.
Amen.