For months a friend of mine joyfully stood in faith on the promise in Ps 118:17: “I shall not die, but live, And declare the works of the LORD.” She claimed that promise as she learned that she had cancer, as she grew weaker and weaker, and as the pain set in. But a couple weeks ago, Trudy fell asleep in Jesus. Did God let her down? Did He break His promise?
When Trudy first suspected something was wrong, she stood on the belief that God was in charge of her life, and that nothing would happen to her that would catch Him unaware. She did all the right things: she made sure she was right with God, she ate organic foods, she exercised, memorized Scripture, kept a positive attitude, trusted God and praised Him for His goodness. She felt that God gave her the verse in Psalm 118:17 to assure her that she would be alright, that she would “not die, but live.” So she rested in that promise, knowing all was well.
But she died.
However, before she died, she experienced miracles of spiritual and emotional healing. I’d like to share four of them.
Miracle 1
Trudy and her husband had lived their lives as broken people. Trudy’s special issue was controlling others, alienating her only son. Consequently, he lived several hours away and had not been in touch with his parents for quite awhile. He didn’t know Trudy’s diagnosis.
After Trudy was placed on hospice, a friend was assigned as her hospice chaplain. Scott spent hours talking with Trudy and her husband. One night Scott was awakened, burdened for this situation. So he got up and spent the next couple hours praying for Enoch and the restoration of the broken relationship.
Enoch was open to God’s voice, and the very next morning Trudy received a phone call – from Enoch! They reconciled by phone, and after that Enoch made arrangements to come and be with his parents for Trudy’s last weeks.
During those last weeks Enoch knew that he had a different mother. No longer controlling, Trudy was finally able to have a real relationship with her son!
Miracle 2
Trudy’s father had always been controlling and abusive to his family. Part of her emotional healing had been to forgive her father. But a few weeks before her death, God did another miracle – Trudy’s elderly father called to ask forgiveness! They talked heart to heart, and for the first time, father and daughter enjoyed a real relationship!
Miracle 3
As Trudy’s body wasted away, and she passed through the end-stages, she and her husband wrestled with the promise God had given her that she would live and not die. Right down to the end, through the pain, she desired life and expected that God would raise her up. Even in her final coma her husband prayed over her, asking God to raise her up. But that didn’t happen.
What did happen was that while they prayed for physical healing in this life, God did a work of spiritual healing in their hearts. Instead of becoming bitter or angry, they clung all the closer to Him, and leaned their whole weight on Him. The three of them submitted their wills to God, acknowledging that only He knows what is best for their future and the most loving thing for now, and that only He knows the right time to fulfill His promise. When Trudy finally died, all three of them were at peace.
Miracle 4
Trudy’s last battle was to trust God with her precious family. She had always been there to take care of them, and toward the end she realized she wouldn’t be there anymore. One of her last acts was to submit her family to God, and one of her last spoken communications was to let them know that she had done this.
So did God break His promise?
Neither Trudy, nor her husband and son believe that God broke His promise. They asked for her to be raised in this life and God said, “No.” He let her go to sleep, as He did Lazarus (John 11:11-13). But God will keep His promise. Trudy will yet live. She will not die the final death in the lake of fire. God’s promise is sure.
Trudy already has eternal life and God has marked her resting place. When Jesus comes again and resurrects the dead, she will be reunited with her family and will see God face to face. So what difference does a few years make when there is all eternity?
Her family grieves, to be sure. But they “sorrow not, even as others which have no hope” (1 Thess 4:1). They know they have not lost her, that this separation is temporary, that they will be with her for eternity. And they look forward to Resurrection Morning with joy in their heart, in the full knowledge that God will then keep His promise.
Please respond by sharing some of the promises you’ve clung to, and learned to trust God with.
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Every page is a promise and a testimony that our faithfulness to God will be multiplied beyond measure in his faithfulness back to us!
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We can never out – faithful God, that’s for sure!
Ok then pastor I believe that God will always there for us! Thanks Pastor!
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Yes, He will, Candice. That’s one thing I love about God!
Yes! You are truly right Pastor, thank you once again for this post!
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Good to see you, Candice!
Great story Sherry and special testimony for those who are ‘going through it all’ and to those who someday may take the same journey. Perhaps God just needed Trudy for a special work in Paradise and left the imprint of her spirit on earth.
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Hi Mel, and thanks! I believe God was doing a work of preparation in Trudy’s life, as He is in us all. He sped up her “training” because she had so little time. That shows me how incredibly important God views this life. It’s here that we learn to live with Him.
God is God and he will do what he does, knowing so much better than us why. So happy that Trudy did not allow “death” to separate her or her family from the love of God, but drew them even closer. I am clingy to the promise of train a child in the way they should go and when they are old they will not depart from it. Also for the Peace we are promised from the Holy Spirit that passed all understanding. I have been so blessed with peace the last couple of weeks. I KNOW people have been praying and God has been listening! I’m so glad y0u posted the miracles and I wonder how many times we miss them because we wanted things OUR WAY, not GODS WAYS. He truly comforts in all situations.
Hi Eva, God’s promises surely will be fulfilled, so I’m glad you have continued to hold on to the promise He’s given you. These are always fulfilled, but not always understandable. God does answer in His own way and that may be very different from the answer we were looking for. Good point that we often miss the miracles that are right beside us because we’re looking for something to go our own way. Living this life is never dull, huh!
This post brought back memories of when my dad was in the hospital from a heart attack. We hadn’t spoken in years as I was full of resentment and bitterness. Thankfully he survived, but it took that heart attack to break down those walls and allow me to connect with my dad. I still did not have a relationship with God and was still terrified of death. Fast forward to 2012 – I am dealing with chronic health issues. I can’t work and my husband can’t find work. I should be terrified by our circumstances. Normally I would be. But my relationship with God has become so strong through my illnesses that I am better able to weather the storm. I am clinging to God’s promises which is allowing me to have the “peace of God, which transcends all understanding” (Philippians 4:7).
Kristina, thanks for sharing. Sounds like you’re between the proverbial rock and hard place. So many people I know are in the same boat, either financially, relationally, health-wise, or otherwise. We know that God always knows what He’s doing, but often when we’re in the middle of it we see the bad circumstance as having no possible good outcome. Yet God can take those very circumstances and work them out for our good. At the very least, He’s teaching us trust and total dependance. Awesome, isn’t He!
Amen!!! Big hug to you xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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Thanks, Florence — hugs accepted!
This is truly beautiful Sherry, beautiful in its truth. The truest form of healing we can experience is in surrendering and submission to the will of God. We will all die someday and you are right to quote the example of Lazarus because there is a true life beyond that which we experience here in this temporary realm. I pray that God helps us to fully rest in Him no matter what the circumstances of our life look like.
xxx
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Thanks, Florence. I like that sentence: “The truest form of healing we can experience is in surrendering and submission to the will of God.” We always look for healing of the situation, the bills paid, the cancer removed, the wayward child home, etc., but God longs to heal us from the inside out — the surrendering and submission. That is a profound statement.
Sherry, thanks for sharing Trudy’s story! One of the key points that God shared with me many many years ago was to remind me that the words in the bible we have are what it is that He shared and spoke to those that record them or share them with us… and that as was Jesus example and teaching, that we are to hear from God what it is that is His will in each of our own situations…. and know that is what will come to pass.
Each testimony in the pages of our bible, tell us what each of those people heard from God for themselves, about their situation, and what it is that they seen God bring to pass and God’s faithfulness to His words and promises given to them.
It all began with hearing what God had to say on whatever situation they found themselves in…. even having God reveal to them and make known to them as with Jesus, and others, what it was that was to come in their lives so that they would be prepared for it.
Many times instead of us hearing from the mouth of God directly what it is that God says on a situation, we find a promise in the bible that God spoke to someone else… cling to it as if God is saying it to us, rather than doing as Jesus said and those writers share with us that they did.. in hearing from God whatever it is that is His will first and knowing that whatever it is that He says to each of us is what He will be faithful to do!!
Faith in God and knowing the promises of God, according to the many writers in the pages of the bible, always began with hearing first whatever it was that God had to say …. personally and directly…. and seeing it come to pass as God said. They were not reading the promises God made to others and clinging to them… and that isn’t what God would have any of us doing today. We are to have a personal and intimate relationship with God, (eternal life) knowing the one true God and that will always begin with hearing whatever it is that He would have us to do and not to do…. what He is going to bring about in our lives …. and doing as He said… and seeing it come to pass just as He said it would!!
So let’s all be encouraged to hear what it is that God is saying to each of us…. personally and directly…. and follow whatever it is that He gives to be done Himself.. as Jesus Himself did… and see God be faithful to whatever it is that He speaks to each of us!! ♥♥
Hi Denise, and welcome to my blog! Yes, God speaks through His word to us collectively and individually. Our “job” is to learn as much as we can about God’s Word and what it says, and then follow it. That’s our only safety in this life.
Thanks for the welcome Sherry! The bible has been telling us for a very long time now Sherry that God speaks to His creation, all aspects of it, as He has from the beginning, without any writings. In fact, upon careful examination of the bible we have today, we can see that there was a great deal that went on before Moses, who is attributed to being the penman of the first 5 books of the bible, was directed to write anything.
When we then consider that Moses who is said to be the penman for those books, was not born during much of the time that the writings cover, including the creation, then we have to either accept that God was able to share all that information with Moses from before his own birth, that it is hearsay or something that Moses heard from others and wrote about it… or that its not trustworthy as a source of what took place during those days.
Then when we look to each account in the bible, where it states by someone that God told them to “write” … it shows to be a testimony against them hearing from God and doing as God directed was to be done… or refusing to hear from God directly, as with the children of Israel in the wilderness.
So when you say that God speaks through His word to us collectively and individually, and then say our job is to learn as much as we can about God’s word and what it says…. you seem to be referring to the bible, which illustrates to us that “God’s word” to them was what God spoke to them, revealed to them through various means, or made known to them from within them.. writing on their own hearts and minds what it was that they were to do or not to do… and them living by that…not writings.
So our safety in life and following the example and teaching of Jesus Christ is to hear from God and to live by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, and that was said and taught at a time that there was no “bible” (God’s word) as we know it today….
So the issue seems to be once again that even though we’ve had the bible for so long now… and its been telling us all that the issue between man and God began when man hearkened to the voice of another, doing what someone else who was not God said God knew, God would have done, etc…. rather than following and keeping what it was that God had spoken to him and made known to him directly and personally Himself.
So it seems that unless we’re going to reject what the bible has been telling us all, in the pen of so many writers, as well as the words and commandments of Jesus Christ, again coming to us upon the pen of two or more … then the safety in this life, as it always has been…. is in the personal and direct hearing of what God has to say to each of us, what it is that God writes in each of our hearts and on each of our minds, and not being taught one of another or teaching others to “know the Lord”… trusting as the bible states, that God Himself will take care of doing that Himself…. and knowing that all that we have need of has been supplied before we’ve asked, as Jesus said as well… and living accordingly!!
As within all other aspects of God’s creation is the ability and knowing from within to do whatever it is that is purposed for them to do… to be whatever it is that they are to be … and to learn and be protected as well, based on what has been given to them, and is within them….. other than with us humans, who say on one hand that we serve and know the Living God… which acting like and telling others that He cannot or does not speak other than through writings from years and years ago.
The safety in this life has always been…. hearing what it is that God says and doing it… as countless others before us have testified in their writings that they did or did not and the results of both!
So let’s remember to encourage people as Jesus said… to hear God, to follow what God writes in the heart and on the minds of each of us…. and know Him (eternal life) as Jesus is recorded to have been the “way” for so long ago now. ♥♥
Hi Denise,
I totally agree with you that God speaks with us personally. He often gives guidance in that way. And His speaking can be through impressions, through others, through nature, through circumstances, or a variety of ways that only God can dream up.
However, I think we differ when it comes to the Bible. I do believe that the Bible is the only standard of life for us, and that it is God’s Word written down. The fact that Moses wrote about Creation without being there only serves to emphasize that he couldn’t have known about it, which means that God had to tell him. So the Creation account comes directly from God — the only One who was present! If we did not have God’s account, we wouldn’t have any account at all, since Adam and Eve were created on the 6th day! They could not have watched God on the days before their existence. God wanted us to know what happened, though, so He gave that account to Moses to be written down.
Certainly there was revelation before writing. Adam & Eve spoke with God face to face. Enoch walked with God. God gave instructions to Noah for the building of the ark. He led Tereh and Abraham away from their land and away from idolatry. He gave Jacob a dream and a promise, as well as Joseph. And so on.
But while God certainly speaks to people today, He will never go against His written will — the Bible. That’s why we need to know the Bible and be following it. Remember that “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it? (Jer 17:9). We can conjure up all kinds of things and honestly believe they are from God, but unless they agree with the Bible, they will lead us down a false path. Remember too, that we have an enemy whose chief battlefield is our minds. Satan too, will lead us astray. Our only safety is coming very close to God relationally, and knowing His Word.
Denise, you have written another two posts that I have not approved here, one on this blog and one on another. Both of them are arguments against things I’ve said. One of those posts is 1821 words long! You obviously have a lot to say! So do I, so my response to you right now may come close to that
Denise, you and I have had several previous experiences in other places on the web “discussing” various points. From this previous experience I know that if I answer your questions and comments, that this “discussion” will go on ad infinitum. Sometimes in a long “discussion,” you even seem to say the opposite of what you said previously just to keep the argument going.
In one such “discussion” several months ago, I expressed to you that without some common ground of belief these “discussions” turn into sparring matches. I am not interested in sparring with you. You are free to believe as you wish, and to express it, but I cannot find a beneficial reason to continue to answer your arguments. It does not help me, and I don’t see that it helps you. We simply go on disagreeing point after point.
Sometimes it feels to me that you are taking my ideas or words to extremes just to find something wrong with a sentence so you can argue with it, or you take something out of context to provide a point of disagreement. I don’t appreciate this, Denise. When I write, I expect that my readers will track with me at least some. The few who don’t, are usually not Christians, so they naturally find a lot of things to argue with. I don’t mind if someone disagrees with something – but the communication between you and me goes WAY beyond this. There appears to be absolutely nothing that you agree with me about. Even if you say the same thing that I said, you say it in a way that disagrees with me! My posts seem to be very offensive to you and I’m wondering why you even bother to read them..
I’m wondering if this continual arguing is even harming you, as it keeps you focused on bickering over minutia instead of embracing God’s work in your own heart. If this is true, then I don’t want to be part of hurting someone else. In our discussions in other places I have tried to take the argument off of the sparring and onto heart issues, but have not been successful. I do not know how to reach the beautiful Denise that I know is somewhere inside.
For you and I to have a meaningful and beneficial discussion and not simply a sparring match, there would need to be some common ground, some of which would include . . .
First, the whole Bible itself as the inspired Word of God and the objective test of any subjective experience. This includes proper exegesis and not taking words out of context.
Second, we would both need to agree on the importance and relevance of the cross of Jesus, His atonement for us, and His ministering for us now.
Common ground would also include believing that a heart relationship with God is critical, without which any obedience becomes legalism.
Another area is intelligent discipleship, where we learn to intelligently follow God’s principles in our own personal situations.
Common ground would also mean believing in the community that God encourages us to be part of. This is not a community where we argue, but where we share our lives together so that we can encourage one another, bear each other’s burdens, and all the other NT commands.
There are other areas of common ground that would be helpful in order for the two of us to discuss things in a Christian manner, but these are bottom-line. However, as it stands now I do not sense the above areas as common ground between us. And because we don’t agree on these basic areas, we do not agree on anything.
In our multiple and lengthy interactions, I have not seen any letup in the amount of argument and disagreement that you seem to have with me. Since these communications have gone on for so long without a change, I feel they are totally useless to us both.
You will notice that I am no longer using Scripture in my responses to you, nor am I answering your points because in our sparring Scripture seems to become a weapon between us and is used to enhance disagreements. Scripture to me is not a weapon, Denise. It is a precious gift from a God who loves us. I do not choose to use it as a weapon against you. Arguing the Bible for the sake of arguing is very distasteful to me, and I choose not to engage.
Denise, I would like to have you as a friend, but I do not want you as a sparring partner. I would rather us encourage each other in our walk with God than argue every little point. I would like to know that when we communicate, it is bringing one or both of us closer to God. Until we reach the point where I sense that these communications are on a heart level and/or beneficial, I’ll try not to ignore you, but I won’t engage in sparring either.
If you need someone to walk with you on your journey with God, I’m here. But I will no longer relate to you on an sparring level. (I think I’ve said that several times, now
You, Denise, are a child of God, and He longs for a heart relationship with you, just as He does with all of us. And the really cool thing about God is that He can have a relationship with you as if there were no other human being on the face of the planet. He is there for you 24/7, ready to comfort you, heal you, shield you, guide you. Whatever you need, He is that for you. He only asks that you open your heart and see the Person behind the words. I am praying, Denise, that you open your heart.
Wonderful article….sometimes we need to remember that going to be with Jesus is the greatest healing there is….but those of us left behind find it so difficult to let go…the emotional healing brings so much growth as well to those left behind……thanks for sharing Sherry!!!
Hi Dixie, it\’s hard for us as humans to keep in mind that this life is not all there is. Resurrection Morning will bring in a brand new one! But we live in the here and now, so all we know is this life right now. And it\’s important to God and to us — just not as important as that which is coming!
On Earth, being faithful probably has an equal amount of benefits to being unfaithful. Someone with a strong relationship with God probably finds it easier to cope with problems. If their faith is true, they tend to build up the ability to get over their problems and move on. They also find a peace in mind in knowing that there’s something else out there. Naturally, the nonbeliever will see the benefits to not believing. They don’t have to “waste” half their day at church each Sunday. They tend to “live their life to the fullest” simply because they believe that’s all there is to it.
Food for thought in your answer. But I would say that being faithful definitely has far more benefits than being unfaithful. God cares how we live our life in the here and now. He wants us to be as happy and healthy as is possible to be on this earth, and to learn to depend on Him for everything because it’s the best way to live. A thought . . . maybe instead of only coping with problems, the faithful one learns to give that problem to God and let Him “cope” with it.