Please open your bibles with me to Psalm 116 or open it on your bible app and read all 19 verses. I read this last week and didn’t post. I was brought back to this same Psalm today, so someone out there needs to read this and be encouraged!

Overview: The theme for this Psalm is Praise for being saved from certain death. Worship is a thankful response, and not a repayment for what God has done.

Verse 1 and 2 reminds us that God is so responsive that you can always reach Him. He bends down and listens to your voice. The writer’s love for the Lord had grown because he had experienced answers to his prayers. If you are discouraged, remember that God is near, listening carefully to every prayer and answering each one in order to give you His best.**

Verse 15… God stays close to us even in death. When someone we love is nearing death, we may become angry and feel abandoned. But believers are precious to God, and he carefully choses the time when they will be called into his presence. Let this truth provide comfort when you’ve lost a loved one. God sees, and each life is valuable to him. **

I heard verse 15 read at a funeral last Tuesday: Precious in the sight of the Lord Is the death of His saints.

My husband is a preacher. We attend many funerals. This funeral happened to be for one of the sweet saints at our church. A dear lady 91 years old who went home to be with Jesus. There’s just something different about a funeral when you KNOW they are now in a better place. Those in attendance will miss them dearly, but their hearts are at peace knowing where they reside, and that’s with Jesus.

I listened carefully as they spoke of how sweet Betty lived life. It was described as “gusto”. She was always kind, always smiling, always laughing and always imitating Jesus. She taught Sunday school, she worked with children at the local school as a teacher’s aide. Betty had such a great sense of humor and turns out everyone mentioned how Betty liked (and would fight you over) dessert. She would roll up her sleeves and savor every bite of a piece of chocolate cake! She impacted everyone she met and that was obvious as we heard story after story.

That funeral prompted me to think of my own mother’s funeral. She died in her early 50’s from pancreatic cancer. I never really even realized how young that was until I turned 54 and realized she was facing death at my age. But I remember the peace she had. I remember the comfort that came from knowing she was going to be with Jesus. I remember looking at the body in the casket and never realizing more than I did in that moment that this body is nothing but an earthly shell that houses the Spirit that will live on forever. I remembered the line of people wrapped around the block that cold October evening; a line that went on for hours as people stopped to tell us how my mom had taken them to Sunday school as a child, or how my mom had taken them food when they were hungry. I knew my mom was a special lady, but the stories I heard were ones that only she knew and had kept quiet, and dear to her heart as she did everything for the Lord, not for recognition. Those stories brought me comfort. It made me realize more than ever that a life well lived will bring comfort to those left behind. It becomes an example to follow, as we follow Jesus. It made me take note of how I was living my life. Would the stories of my life bring comfort to my children one day when I went home to be with Jesus?

There are times I get so wrapped up in the “To Do” list I forget the “To Be” list and I have to stop and recalibrate and insure I’m using my time to do what really matters in the big scheme. How are you spending your dash? I was around 40 years old before I started purposefully paying attention to my dash and the memories that I would be leaving my family. In today’s fast-paced world it’s easy to let life run us instead of us run it. No matter where you’re at, or what stage of life you’re in, it’s never too late to start paying attention to the dash and leaving memories that will one day bring your family comfort when you head on home to be with Jesus.

**Taken from the Life Application study bible.

Be blessed my friends! I head back to work tomorrow after being off for 6 weeks. I’ve enjoyed life slowing down a bit and hope to carry that peace with me as I return.