I Am So Excited For You!
By Kathy Makuakane, Executive Assistant to the Senior Pastor
“That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)
I miss my sister-in-law Dianne. She was a lovely woman, a believer in Jesus, and my dear friend. She passed away several years ago at only 59 after a long battle with breast cancer. She lived on the Big Island but her medical care was here on Oahu. I had the privilege of spending much time with her, going to all her appointments to support her and, in the end, helping with her care during her hospice journey. Her passing was hard in so many ways, but it also was something that the Lord used to enlarge my perspective on death.
Dianne believed in heaven, but dying was not on her to-do list just yet, and she trusted God to heal her body. When it became clear that He was not going to miraculously do that, she struggled with her faith. I didn’t want her to go and, though I knew God is the one who makes these calls, it just didn’t feel right.
Until the day she entered hospice.
She had been in the hospital so the doctors could get her pain under control. But after it became clear that her cancer was no longer responding to any attempts to fight it, it was decided that only palliative care would be offered going forward. The fight was over, and she was officially entering hospice. In her hospital room, as we all suffocated in a sea of defeat, she waited in a wheelchair for the last steps in that slow hospital discharge process.
Then her nurse entered. Or maybe she was an angel in disguise. This woman, who had lovingly cared for Dianne, was a strong Christian, and she had come to say goodbye. She knelt down, grabbed both of Dianne’s hands, leaned forward to get closer to her face, and said in a quiet yet powerful voice, “Dianne. I. Am. SO … excited for you!”
What?! This was not what anyone expected to hear. Everyone was startled, especially Dianne. Her eyebrows shot up and her eyes widened.
But then understanding set in. Her eyes got even bigger, and a delighted smile emerged. The angel-nurse had given her—given all of us—a view from a higher perspective. Very soon, Dianne was going to be with her Creator and Savior in heaven! The fight was over, but it was absolutely not a defeat. It was a victory! The soldier was done with the battle and was going home where there would be no more pain. She would soon be in the arms of the Lover of her soul.
Seeing that realization wash over Dianne’s face was a tremendous gift. I still didn’t want her to go, but I realized it was okay for her to go. As clichéd as it sounds, she actually was going to a better place. In fact, I was excited for her too!
I have been reading a book called Imagine Heaven by John Burke. It tells 120 stories of people who have had near-death experiences. They passed away but were revived later, and tell about amazing things they experienced while dead. The author weaves these stories together with Scripture about life after death. Reading it has strengthened in me the heavenly perspective that Dianne’s angel-nurse shared.
All of us are touched by death, and it’s so hard. Most of us have already had to say goodbye to one or more people who were very important to us. All of us will one day have to say goodbye to our own earthly lives. Death can be excruciatingly scary and sad, but if we can enlarge our perspective from the strictly earthly to include the heavenly, we can remind ourselves that life here is just a small part of real life. There is more and it is good.
The Lord understands our fear and our sadness about death. He experienced those emotions Himself when he wept over Lazarus’ death and when He pleaded with His Father in the garden as He faced death on the cross. So, this is not a “don’t be afraid or sad” message. This message is intended to be an understanding hug and an encouragement to look, when you are able, beyond the initial pain of loss to a bigger, hope-filled picture.
Perhaps because the Lord understands the pain of death, He has also given us many beautiful and joyful descriptions of heaven in the Bible. I encourage you to search Scripture to grasp what He has prepared for us. For starters, check out 2 Corinthians 12:2-4 where Paul seems to describe his own near-death experience. You also can try Colossians 3:1-4, Romans 8:18-25, 1 Corinthians 2:9, 15:35-57, Hebrews 8:5, and Revelation 21:10-27.
So, let’s be here for each other as we experience inevitable death and all the pain it involves. And then let’s set our sights on the realities of heaven. I am so excited for us!
Prayer: Lord, thank You for this life. Thank You for Your presence and comfort when we are faced with death and for those You have placed around us to help in those hard times. Thank You for sending Jesus to defeat death on our behalf and for offering us everlasting life with You. Thank You for preparing a spectacular place for us in heaven and for giving us an idea of what awaits. Please help us not get stuck in fear and sadness, but remind us of the higher perspective that there is an exciting future beyond this earthly life. Amen.
Kathy with Dianne
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