On the 20th dear friends of ours lost one of their family members in a tragic accident. A young boy who had just turned 14. I won't name anyone for their privacy but want to share the story with you. He was a very sweet, cheerful, Godly young man full of energy and always ready to give you one of his big, one-of-a-kind smiles. One of his favorite verses was Ecc. 9:10,"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might..." And that is how he was! If they wanted a job done quickly they called on him, he loved building things, playing violin, was his mothers right hand man and was just starting to really be able to help his dad with his job.
A special memory for us has to do with my little brother, Levi. He has a speech problem, he has gotten better but used to be very hard to understand and that makes him an easy target. As we were visiting churches a couple years ago, at a lot of them the children would make fun of Levi because of that. That made him sad and frustrated. We visited the church that this family goes to for about a year and this boy was a friend to my little brothers and never teased Levi but was always sweet to him. Levi's name for this church was "the church with the nice boy" because of him always being kind to him. :')
On the 19th, Friday night, this family had their family fun night. This time they sat around a campfire in their backyard and had a wonderful time together talking, singing, and sharing Bible verses. The next morning a group of boys including him and his dad went swimming. This boy had an absolutely amazing and fun time jumping off of a 15 foot cliff into the water with his best friend. As they were walking to the truck this boy said completely out of nowhere, "When I die, I hope it's fast!" Everyone heard him. Not 30 minutes later the driver swerved to miss a dog in the road and the boy, who had been sitting up on the side of the back of the truck (a lot of them were riding in the truck bed), fell, his upper body and head going under the back tire. He was dead instantly. The driver saw it all. The driver was only a young man 16-17 years old. He said to the boy's father, "I just killed your son." The father calmly replied as he cradled his son's head in his lap, "No, I gave him to the Lord 2 years ago and this was God's will. It was time for him to go." And in that moment, as the truck was still running a hymn came on the radio called "Enter In", words are below:
Enter In
In a world of pain and sorrow where the best so often fall.
When the prayers all go unanswered,
When the shadows seem to overwhelm,
When the light of hope has dimmed and leaves no hope at all.
That's when heaven pierces through the cloud of darkness,
And the glory of the Father shines from heaven's open door.
And the Son of Man, standing at the right hand of the Father,
With a warm embrace gives welcome, and the angels are rejoicing,
And the Father with a voice like rushing wind, says,
"All heaven has been waiting, enter in, enter in, enter in."
When the dreams of life are shattered, and the body wastes away.
When all dignity's abandoned,
And the ones who care, with broken hearts,
Plead for mercy, but it seems that Mercy hides His face.
That's when heaven pierces through the cloud of darkness,
And the glory of the Father shines from heaven's open door.
And the Son of Man, standing at the right hand of the Father,
With a warm embrace gives welcome, and the angels are rejoicing,
And the Father with a voice like rushing wind, says,
"All heaven has been waiting, enter in, enter in, enter in."
It seems like such a short life and I'm sure a lot have questioned why? I know we did. Why *him*?! He was so special, so sweet, so full of life and love for the Lord! He was a favorite of ours out of the whole church. Such a Godly young man. But, the things the Lord did to show so clearly that this was His will are amazing and we can take comfort from that. God is good, all the time. He doesn't make mistakes. Although his life here was short, he left an amazing testimony for the Lord. He has blessed many people, including us, with his life.
We do not know if the people we love will be here an hour from now! Tell the people in your life what they mean to you now, not at their funeral. Do what you have to do today, say what you have to say today, because today is all that we have.
We are all going to die. We might have time or as in the story I just told you it could be instant. Are you ready to meet the Lord? Have you made Him the Lord of your life and are living your life for Him? Seeking after Him daily? Reading His word and growing in Him? The sins of this world may seem fun for a time, but they will pass away and you will be left with an eternity, forever and ever, no end, *forever*, either in Heaven or in Hell. Choose you this day who you will serve! Like I said before, you may not have tomorrow or even an hour from now. Only God knows. Nothing will be able to compare and it will be worth it all to be able to hear the words on judgement day, " Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of thy Lord!"
Please, please keep this precious family and the young driver in your prayers. His funeral was one of the hardest saddest events I've ever been to. Losing a son, brother, and friend has left them heartbroken but they look forward to seeing him in Heaven. Pray that the Lord will continue to be with them, giving them strength and comfort.
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."
-Isaiah 55: 8-9
