Reunited and All is Well | Previous Challenge Entry

how it works

TITLE: Reunited and All is Well | Previous Challenge Entry
By Beckie Stewart
06/10/08
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Adversity had never been Mary’s forte. Life would have played out differently if she controlled it. She wrestled to accept hurts graciously. For three years now she struggled with the disease that brought her to this final moment. Mary smiled at her husband and family with pride.

As her vision blurred, she whispered, “I love you.” She had finally accepted that it was time to say goodbye to the old life and hello to the new. At her request weeks earlier, her family began to sing her favorite hymn as she closed her eyes and drew her last breath.

As their song faded into the background, Mary heard a new musical melody in her ears. She stood amidst a sea of people that sang in perfect harmony. She remembered reading about Peter, James and John. When Elijah and Moses appeared, the three disciples identified them by name. She looked and discovered she knew all by name. Beyond the crowd, a rainbow of light illuminated the area. She instantly sensed a desire to dwell there.

Mary sauntered forward and spotted her father who had died fifty years earlier.

“You’re here! I wasn’t ever sure. I’m so glad to see you.”

“I know,” Mary’s father said. “I wasn’t as fruitful as I could’ve been on earth. I faithfully attended a building not a church. I did put my trust in Jesus at seventeen though.”

Mary hugged her father with gratitude and told him how much she had missed him over the years.

As Mary continued toward her destination, she heard a voice she never heard on earth.

“Mom!” She ran to embrace the child she never held.

“Mary.” Someone else called out to her. “You never knew me on earth. You walked by my house and prayed that the circumstances of my life would bring my family to salvation. A week later, I found out I had cancer and turned to Jesus.”

Mary traveled a few more feet when a boy approached her. He looked familiar, but she knew that their association on earth must have been brief.

“Thank you for visiting me in the hospital when I was ten. You shared Christ with me and prayed with me to receive Jesus that day.” Mary suddenly remembered that as a college student she had been required to visit people for a Christian work assignment. “I got an infection after my appendix was removed and because of you, I am here,” he said to her.

Mary contemplated what she had been told when she noticed her aunt who had passed away over sixty years earlier. Her operation had caused her to have a heart attack and fall into a coma. She sprinted toward Mary and said, “You were right. No one else could hear me talk, but Jesus did. I know I never woke up to tell you. I wasn’t afraid to die after your visit.”

Mary turned to see another man walking toward her. “I don’t know if you remember. You drove by a car accident. Your prayers saved my life. I had walked away from the Lord, and my life began to swirl out of control that day. When I got out of the hospital, I returned to the Lord. He saved my marriage.”

Mary could not believe all the people that stopped to tell her the impact her words or prayers had made on their lives. Many patted her on the back just saying “Thank you” as she passed. She remembered her prayers, and how she wondered if they had made a difference.

Suddenly, tears of excitement streamed down Mary’s face as she saw Jesus with his outstretched arms. He lifted her tenderly onto His lap and said,

“It’s been a long, hard journey, Mary. I know life didn’t make sense to you most of the time. You struggled to trust me. The battle of your emotions plagued you more than I ever desired for you. You believed that you meant nothing.”

As Jesus stroked Mary’s hair, he said, “Mary, you did make a difference. The family members that you have been reunited with today are here, because you spoke up for me and prayed. You did well, my good and faithful servant. Enter your place of rest.”

With a sigh of peace and contentment, Mary closed her eyes and with a voice she never had on earth began to sing,

“Trust and obey.
For there’s no other way,
To be happy in Jesus,
But to trust and obey.”

*Hymnal words written by John H. Sam-mis: Scripture reference: Luke 9:28-36

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