I recently said to Jill, my wife, that I was a bit concerned that people might be tiring of my hospital and medical illustrations. But after last Wednesday’s procedure, I have at least one more!
As I was in theatre, being prepped for general anaesthesia, I lay there with thoughts I had wrestled with for several days: When I awake, will I find a large suture due to another complication? Will the bile leak have returned? Will the ERCP trigger another bout of pancreatitis? As the apparatus was placed over my nose and I was instructed to take deep breaths, I knew that, at any moment, I would be sound asleep and then awake “on the other side.” What would I experience? I admit that I was a bit anxious those moments prior to lights out.
Thankfully, what I experienced “on the other side” was a successful procedure and, for the first time in nine months, I am confident about a full recovery. But my experience got me thinking: What will be like to take my final breath and meet the Lord on the other side? I thought about Ingrid, and about Nita, and how they must have felt as the Saviour whispered, “This is your last breath: Enter into the joy of your Lord.” That is the way I look forward to dying: to take my last breath with peace that what awaits me on the other side is the welcoming embrace of my Saviour. I want to take my last breath in great anticipation that all will be well. At my death, I want to fall asleep in peace, fully expecting to awake far better off on the other side. By God’s grace, I fully anticipate this experience because, through God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, I have peace with God (Romans 5:1). I therefore can go to sleep with the peace of God (Philippians 4:7).
I did a lot of praying as they wheeled my bed to theatre the other day, asking the Lord to allow me to have an event-free procedure. I experienced times of peace with intermittent moments of emotional eruption (a fancy way to say “worry”!). Much of my concern was fed by the uncertainty of the outcome. Though I was very much in the hands of God, I was also in the hands of humans—gifted, caring, experienced humans, nevertheless, imperfect humans, working on a very imperfect human body. I suppose, therefore, that some measure of apprehension was justified. But when it comes to committing one’s soul to the triune God, the outcome is assured. Though a body may be racked with pain, when the believer dies, she has the peaceful assurance of “absent from the body; present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:6). In other words, going to sleep in Jesus is the only way to die well. The alternative is a horrifying thought, to those who take God’s word seriously.
As I recently said, I have had the privilege in recent weeks to preach the funerals of those of whom I have no doubt concerning where they are “on the other side.” For, while they were on this side, it was clear whose side they were on: the Lord’s. Their lives of faithful love for the Lord Jesus Christ testified to the reality of their profession of faith in him. So let me ask you, “What if I preached your funeral?”
Is there evidence that you have been reconciled to God? Is there evidence by your relationships that you are at peace with God? Is there evidence that you are living on this side like you will live with God on the other side? Is the triune God the greatest love of your life? That is, are you trusting in God’s gift of his Son for forgiveness of your sins? Only by Jesus Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection can we be at peace with God on this side of the grave, thus providing us certain peace about what we will experience on the other side. Therefore, repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Those who do will keep repenting and will keep on believing, all the way to the other side.
Grateful,
Doug