My dear aging saint, my beloved dying saint, see your situation for what it is. The wages of sin are death. But see beyond your situation. Your Savior awaits, and glory will be yours. But until then, be a suffering servant, serving until the end. And then, your greatest days will have only just begun.

Dear Friend,

What do I pray for an aging saint, longing for heaven above?
What do I pray for this soul on earth, one I so dearly love?
I would pray this…

First, I would pray that you see your situation for what it is.

You could spend your final days, weeks, months, and even years obsessed with diagnoses, remedies, and a myriad of other terms. I know that the hospital is never home, and home is with the Great Physician above. But realize this—for all you’ll learn about the body, its health, and some cures—we only live so long. Moses knew it long ago—“The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty” (Psalm 90:10). At some point, our appointment with death will come (Hebrews 9:27). Do not be surprised, whether decline is gradual or sudden.

Second, I would pray that you see beyond your present situation.

Our Lord Jesus Christ died, arose, and lives in a glorious, glorified body. His is the prototype for what you’ll have. In fact, He Himself “will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him to even to subject all things to Himself” (Philippians 3:21). So, in one venue, Christ uses His power to uphold all things. In another and future venue, He will focus that infinite and overwhelming power squarely on you to obliterate every malady, spiritual and physical, in order for you to be like Him. See beyond the present and hope for what will come. Join Paul to proclaim, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us….the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:18, 23).

Read More