A Dying Grace
Because I believe in the grace of God for all occasions, then there must be a grace for dying…for leaving this world and getting ready to enter the next. I have a friend who I believe has this grace on her right now. If you follow me on Facebook, you will have read about an amazing conversation I had with this friend last week.
We talked for over an hour. That’s doing quite well for her right now, I think. She was given a death sentence by the medical profession a year ago. Doctors told her she wouldn’t live the year out. Yet, she’s still alive. We talked of heaven, and what she wants to do there. I just imagine her doing somersaults in the air. That’s what she wants to do when she gets there.
I had been praying for her for a miracle. Many others have been, too. She doesn’t really want to leave this earth yet. She’s only 65. But, as her time draws near, she’s looking ahead, while trying to help those she’s leaving behind.
Last December, she nearly died. But something rose up within her. She told me later, “I said, ‘No!’ I’m not dying this way.” And she seemed to improve for many months. During that time, she and I reconnected. It had been many years since we’d been close. I credit her for reaching out to me and re-establishing the friendship.
But now, with tumors growing almost daily, it seems to her, she knows her time is short. She asked only two things: 1) That her family release her; and 2) That her family doesn’t blame God or be angry with Him.
Because that’s our first response, isn’t it? When something bad happens, we blame God. “If He were a loving God, why would this happen?” Haven’t you said that? I sort of have. It came out different. I ask why, even though I know I’m not going to get an answer.
What we need to realize is that even though God is sovereign, because we live in a fallen world, bad things we don’t want, will happen. I’ve heard it put this way, from the “Love Comes Softly” movie. Clark Davis is trying to explain this concept to Marty, after his barn burned down. This isn’t exact dialogue, by the way, but my remembrance of it.
Marty: Did you pray for this?
Clark: I could be walking side-by-side with Missy, and yet she might fall down. I didn’t cause it, but she knows, because I love her, I’ll pick her up and heal her.
I believe there’s a grace on my friend right now…to be honest about what’s happening in her life…to begin to understand a deeper faith. A grace to die––a dying grace.
Donna L.H. Smith 