2 CORINTHIANS 4:16-18.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

TO PONDER

I live with my wife in a retirement village.  The facilities and resources here are fantastic for caring for people as they age (from their 60s to their 90s). We have staff and resources to help us keep our bodies fit and healthy; we have facilities and programs to keep our minds active and we have a chaplain to support us spiritually and emotionally. One downside of living in this environment, however, is that we are very aware of the impact of the ageing process on people, with regular funerals for those who have died. So the subject often comes up on how people would like to die – with a consensus that dying in our sleep is the preferred way to depart this life.

The subject also comes up about how we wouldn’t like to die, and I guess we are all aware of friends and family who have suffered to some extent in their last days and hours. So I have been pondering this question (or maybe the Holy Spirit has been stirring me). If we trust in God’s love and commitment to us, He will be with us in our dying as much as in our living. I’m not saying that it won’t be hard, but God has promised to be with us always and accompany us in this journey, even to a greater extent than His love and support in our other journeys.

I’ve mentioned in my earlier devotions how God often works through us to impact the lives of others, and I am very open to God also using His journey with me in my dying to bring a needed message to someone else.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, sometimes we need a greater trust in your love for us that you won’t take us anywhere that you don’t travel along with us on the journey. We know you have been with us in wonderful ways in the past. Please help us to remember all these times so that we have confidence in your presence with us as you take us on new journeys, even our final journey on this earth. Amen

Today's devotion written by Charles Bertelsmeier. LifeWay Epping