Father, our hearts cry out to you right now. Broken hearts are grieving the loss of our mother, our grand mother, our sister our friend our wife. We cry out with King David from so long ago, “Be merciful to me for I am faint; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are in agony. My soul is in anguish. How long, Oh Lord, how long? Turn and deliver me; save me with your unfailing love.” Father, speak words of comfort to us in this hour. In Jesus name amen.
I am the longest surviving son in law of mom and I count it a privilege to stand before you to speak some words about my mother in law. So I thank all of you for the opportunity.
JoAnn was a born again believer in the saving grace of Christ. Through the ministry of many and in times of great need, she found the foundation that would hold her up for the rest of her life. Even through her last moments here with us. She passed on into the arms of Jesus with all of us standing around her. It was a precious time that I will never forget. Watching dad kiss her for the last time was a powerful moment that underscores the love shared between them for over 58 years.
Most every Christian I know has a favorite bible verse. A verse they can return to at any moment that reminds them that their is a greater power, a greater purpose, a greater principle than anything that confronts them at any time.
JoAnn’s favorite verse was Proverbs 3:5 & 6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.
As I read and re-read those verses I thought about trust and how JoAnn trusted the Lord for so many things with all her heart. How she trusted that the best things would come to her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Joanne trusted that the Lord would take her home in His time and trusted that his final peace would be her healing.
Trust and Obey for there’s no other way... the song goes. We’ve heard a lot of things about trust in our lives and to be sure, I trust that you take that to heart. But the next part of the passage is the tough part, isn’t it? And maybe that’s the part that caught JoAnn more than we might know.
...lean not on your own understanding;... That’s not easy. As each of us has struggled to understand the whys of a dear loved one’s passing, we each formulate reasons upon reasons; possibilities upon possibilities and ways upon ways it could have turned out differently. We want to understand and we hate the idea that we don’t. But Isaiah 55:8 tells us that God’s “...thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways (His) ways,”
Those are hard words to understand and even harder to hear. Because from our perspective our ways are right.
...in all your ways acknowledge him... Ways, what ways? This way? That way? Which way? Another verse pops into mind. Jesus said, I am the way the truth and the life...
There’s the way. In all your ways... Jesus. Jesus in every thought, every decision, every moment. A continuous stream of connectedness that enters into every movement of our lives. But you say, “Martin, I can’t do that! I can’t pray over the decision to have a Latte or a plain cup of coffee!” Oh but you can! You see, God’s ability to provide you with everything you need for every decision you make is limitless!! The only limitation is your willingness to accept it!
He will make your paths straight! Sam and Deb drove all night to get here from North Carolina. Sam told me he didn’t know that a little four cylinder would go 100 mph! I would dare guess it would go even faster that that if the road was wide, straight and flat!
JoAnn’s second born, Ellen, my wife is a district manager for a petroleum company. She oversees a dozen or more convenience store gas stations. On one of our trips between Lake Odessa and Jackson, Ellen and I calculated that she has driven about 34,000 miles in her car since last Thanksgiving. That’s an average of over 800 miles a week!
The reason she drives so many miles is due to changing her district from one that was fairly close to one that is nearly as far away as possible from our home. Plus the district is a much larger district square miles wise. When the change was given, neither Ellen nor I were too happy about it. To us, especially to me, the change did not make a lot of sense. I struggled to understand it. It seems to me that a manager is hired to oversee people more than anything else. That means talking to, teaching, disciplining, hiring and interacting with people. Business people call it “face time.” This change of district would require a lot of “wheel time.” Higher travel expense. More wear and tear vehicle miles and a lot less face time. She had worked very hard to build an efficient and profitable district for her employer. She had developed relationships with store employees that were important to both her and them. I personally was concerned with the number of additional miles she would drive every day. The possibility of a road accident increases with each mile driven. No, we did not understand.
But God’s way are not our ways. Lean not on your own understanding but in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.
So with prayer and thankfulness for a good work for Ellen to do, thinking that she’d have a ministry with a new group of people, we put this difficult to understand decision into the hands of Jesus and went about our life.
As a result of the district change, for the past year, on almost every Wednesday afternoon, Ellen has met with her mother and dad for lunch. She had no way of knowing the outcome that finds us all here. She only knew that because of the change in her district an opportunity arose. An opportunity that presented itself in spite of our “better” knowledge. His ways are not our ways. I acknowledge that now. His wisdom surpasses mine and yours.
Lean not on your own understanding, but in all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.
You see his ways are not a list of do this’ and don’t do thats. It’s not about behaving like this or like that. So many Christians get that wrong. I wish it were that easy. But it’s not. Scripture says we’ve all fallen short of the glory of God. Your behavior is not; can not be the determining part of your relationship to God. JoAnn understood that. It’s not about doing the right thing. It’s about relying upon the right person. If you attempt to be “good enough” to be in the presence of God you will experience epic failure! You cannot be good enough. To think so throws away the sacrifice of Christ.
No, it is about understanding that no matter your behavior, as good or as bad as it may be, you are broken and cannot scratch the surface of understanding the ways of God. To worry about the circumstances in life is a form of atheism. You simply cannot understand the ways of God.
JoAnn did not understand the ways of God any more than you or I. But she did understand that she was broken. At the end she gave in to God’s understanding, God’s plan, God’s call, God’s hope. Her brokenness is now healed! She was willing to trade her corruptible body for an incorruptible spirit that celebrates a knowledge she could never know here. She is dancing with angels and waiting for the glorious time of meeting all of us who, though broken, believe. We will celebrate with her then and do so even now knowing that His ways are perfect. His way is strong. His way brings us home. That his way heals us too. And at the time of our perfect healing we will see our mom, grandmother, great-grandmother, sister and wife again.
Yes JoAnn, mom, we celebrate with you today. We thank you for your life and the way it enhanced ours. We all are better because we know of your faith. We hang on here as each of us is called to do. Though we ache, grieve, cry and will do so at times for the rest of our lives, we anxiously wait to see you again.
