A Lesson from a Death

My brother in law died last week. He was 53 years old and had been diagnosed with cancer for only 10 weeks, he knew the chemotherapy wasn't working for only 4 days before he died. He was a quiet man, always willing to help anyone and knew a little about everything it seemed. He was not perfect, he wasn't forceful in trying to change anyone's ideas to his own. He was one of those guys people just took for granted that he was there, no big deal. He knew how to have fun and was considerate of others. He was just Mike.

I had asked God for Christ to be glorified in Mike's healing or in his death, whatever God's will was. I knew God had the power to heal Mike but I didn't know if that was God's will.
Obviously it wasn't. However, Christ WAS glorified in Mike's death.

The day he died I spent the whole day at my sister's home and was blessed to see God's hand at work in theeir lives and So many others that God's love had touched through Mike. I was blessed to share Jesus's grace, love and mercy with my sister and nephew and neices. For the first time, we spoke openly about our faith in Christ and our hope of eternity with Him and the peace in our hearts that Mike had beat us to Heaven. We shared One God, One Lord and One Faith, even though three different denominations are in that one family of five!

Sharing Christ and His love draws believers closer than anything else, even family ties.

God revealed to me that I am such a fake! I go to church, I support ministries, I do all the things that "church goers" are supposed to do. But, my brother in law LIVED as believers should! Everyone of his neighbors came and told how Mike had welcomed them in the neighborhood, or helped them fix something, or do something for them, or just came to visit and cared for them. His work buddies likewise had similar stories of Mike's geniune care and concern for them. There were so Many people that came to tell how Mike had touched their lives. And I do not even know some of my neighbors names, How ashamed I am!

In my prayer group last night one of the women asked what does living for Christ mean to us? God has said to me- Be a neighbor/ a friend to EVERYONE, care about their well being, put their needs before my own, and not just the ones in a ministry, or church, but the next door neighbor, the patients I see at work, my coworkers, the people that God places in my path. And to Not worry about what someone else says or thinks about what I do or my motives, but concern myself with what God thinks about me and my motives.