Can I admit that news of several recent deaths has me
fighting sadness? I know as believers we have a peek into the end of the story
but, my goodness, it’s just so difficult to sit by and know these families are
struggling with loss.
Rick and Jonann Byargeon had been at NOBTS about a year when
we moved here in 1994. They quickly became friends, and we shared a number of
life intersections, including the celebration of Rick and Allen’s birthdays
(both in early November). Rick found out he had cancer last fall and, after
valiantly pursuing a number of treatment options, on Thursday, April 4, “left
this life for the life that lasts forever.”
Then, on Friday evening, newlyweds Deb and Jake Goforth (Deb
works in the Dean of Students office and Jake is an NOBTS student) got word
that Jake’s brother-in-law had been killed in a car accident that afternoon. Paul
Marin and Jake’s sister Holly have two precious children and another on the way
due in less than two weeks.
Perhaps you were on Facebook Saturday afternoon like I was
when news of the death of Rick and Kay Warren’s youngest son hit friends’
statuses. Matthew, after a lifetime of struggling with mental illness, gave into “a wave of despair” and took his own
life.
Add to these the passing of Dr. Preston Nix’s father as well
as Dr. Don Aderhold, former NOBTS extension center director. Plus a local
church and family buried a young man this week, killed in a senseless murder
(made even more difficult since his brother was killed last fall).
And so I fight sadness with a three-fold battle plan:
- I cling to the promise of eternal life.
- I cling to the promise of comfort.
- I cling to the hope that God will use all of this for His greater glory.
It’s not a polly-anna take on
life-and-death; it’s the only way I
can get up each morning and do more than just go through the motions of work,
school, and family. To borrow from the words of an old chorus:
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow;
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future
And life is worth the living, just because He lives.
1 comment:
I, too, was saddened by Dr. Byargeon's passing even though I had been following his treatment journey on Facebook. It is still all too sad to hear of friends losing their cancer battles.
Yes, Because He Lives we can live on and press on toward the mark He sets for us.
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