Waiting For Your Turn

Waiting For Your Turn

Your promise revives me; it comforts me in all my troubles. Psalm 119:50

Janet had been through a couple of tough years. She’d had surgery for weight loss, and the procedure had gone well, but she started having some complications around the same time her husband, Rick, got sick and died.

Rick and Janet had been active in their church and in the community. It seemed that everyone turned out for his funeral to support Janet. But something was different about her. It was as if Rick had taken the bright light of her personality with him when he left, leaving only a flickering flame.

Janet came to see me several weeks after the funeral. “I don’t know how to get out of this nosedive. He was my world, and we did everything together. Now my heart is so heavy that I can hardly fill out the form to see you.” I nodded, listening to her as she put words to her pain.

“Are you still gardening?” I asked. I knew their garden had been a source of pride for both of them.

“I don’t even go outside. I just stay in my bedroom and keep the shades closed. I’ve gained twenty pounds in the past two months, and I know I’m eating myself to heaven so I can see Rick again.”

“Janet, there are two things I know about you. First, you and Rick had an infinite love for each other. Second, you both loved the Lord even more than each other. Those things are still true. Rick caught an earlier flight to heaven, but I believe that God has also promised you a ticket. When he calls you, and not a day sooner, you’ll be ready. Until then, you have to live here.”

“On his last day, Rick talked about seeing glimpses of eternity, and he told me what they looked like.”

“I believe that Rick gave you those glimpses as a way to sustain you until you can meet him there.”

I saw Janet several times over the next two years as the flickering flame was restored to the bright beacon it had once been. One day she said to me, “You have been with me through thick and thin, but the most important thing you ever told me was that when things are the worst, look up. That’s what keeps me going.”

TODAY’S RX

If your loved ones have gone on before you, glorify God with every day you have left before you join them.

Father, I look forward to the day when I can be reunited with my loved ones who have gone on before me. Keep them in your care, and sustain me here on earth until my time arrives.