Grandma was Faithful to the End
[Today’s post is written by a woman in our church whose grandmother recently went to be with the Lord. What a wonderful testimony of the impact of a godly woman! After reading take a moment to meditate on the applicable Scriptures listed.]
So many memories of my grandmother stand out in my mind: her godly speech towards everyone around her, her gracious hospitality extended to missionaries, her generous giving towards my education because of her love of learning. All of these, I thought, would be the legacy she would leave to me—the legacy of a woman who had followed hard after God her whole life. I knew that I could not even start to comprehend the amazing gift that had been given to me in her.
When the doctors discovered my grandma’s large brain tumor they gave her two weeks to live, but she actually lived for over a month and a half. During that time people from many states came to visit her and people from different parts of the world called to talk to her. These were all people whose lives had been touched in one way or another by her life. My mother said that throughout all the time she was in pain she never complained. She was sweet and kind, just as she had always been, to the very end. One of the last times I talked to her on the phone, I couldn’t understand everything she said; but I understood two things very clearly: She said, “The Lord is good; the Lord is good,” and “I know people are praying for me; I can tell.”
In truth, I was not ready to let her go. I knew she had prayed for me every day of my life, and I was afraid of what would happen when I lost that intercession. I feared losing my grandma. But my grandmother isn’t lost. I knew exactly where she was the moment she passed from this life—safe in Jesus’ arms. God called His faithful servant home to heaven. How could I have I begrudged her going Home when she had lived her life in anticipation of seeing her Savior’s face?
At the funeral her pastor said that one of the last times he visited her he asked, “Harriet, is there anything I can pray for you about?” My grandmother had him lean in close because she was very weak and could hardly speak; she whispered, “That I will be faithful to the end.” And she was.
Few people get to consciously choose the last lesson they give here on this earth, but my grandma did. The greatest lesson she ever taught me was how to live and how to die. Faithfully…to the end.
[Scripture to meditate on: 2 Timothy 1:15; 3:14-17]
