August 27, 2005
Missing Michael
Last night, Evan's close friend Michael went home to be with the Lord Jesus Christ.
"Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints...O LORD, I am your servant...You have loosed my bonds." Psalm 116: 15,16
Michael is rejoicing in the Presence of the Lord Jesus!
"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." I Cor. 13: 12
"Your eyes will behold the king in his beauty..." Isaiah 33:17
"Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." Luke 23: 43
When my nephew Conner heard that Michael died, he thanked God that Michael is dancing in heaven instead of riding in an ambulance. This morning I had the words of Psalm 30 in my mind: "You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praise and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to you *forever*!"
When Jesus comes again, Michael will have a new body, whole and perfect. He will never be bound to a wheelchair again!
"Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we will be like him, because we shall see him as he is." I John 3:2
"Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall all be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:
'Death is swallowed up in
victory.'
'O death, where is our victory?
O death, where is your sting?'
The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." I Cor. 15: 50-57
"But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words."
Please pray for Michael's family especially and his friends who are grieved by his sudden and unexpected death and who are missing him. Pray for those who love Michael but do not yet have the hope of eternal life.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too." 2 Corinthians 1: 3-5
We are comforted by God to some extent already, by the remembrances of some gifts that He gave us to help us while losing Michael:
* We had the blessing of spending the week at Horn Creek last week along with
Michael and his family. Our boys went bowling with the family and had a lot
of fun with Michael and Eric building a fort and playing in it. James also took
Michael along with the boys through the woods to play in Horn Creek.
Michael at Horn Creek
Bowling
Michael and Matthew
Evan and Michael
Fort Boys
Happy Michael
* The sermons at Horn Creek and at home last Sunday were Providentially
about trials and suffering.
* Last Sunday morning, Michael sat beside Evan in church. Evan and Michael
don't usually sit together in the morning service, but they did last week, which
was a blessing.
* The kids and I were able to visit Michael after his surgery this week at
Children's Hospital. Evan insisted on buying a balloon for Michael himself so
that it would be specially from him. Michael was very tired when we saw him,
but able to smile and interact a little.
* I am so grateful that Shannon and I and the kids were able to get together
usually once-a-week for schooling activities and play time.