Because He Said So

 “She said to Elijah, ‘What have I to do with you, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to remembrance, and to kill my son?’ And he said to her, ‘Give me your son.’ So he took him out of her arms and carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. Then he cried out to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord my God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow…?’ And he stretched himself out on the child three times, and cried out to the Lord and said, ‘O Lord my God, I pray, let this child’s soul come back to him.’” 1 Kings 17:18-23

As I read this story today, it is fitting that is comes to me on March 16th, my dad’s 11th anniversary of slipping out of this world into God’s arms. Some of God’s revelations are marvelous and others can be painful. I read this double-minded this morning because the story reminds me of both earthly healing and heavenly healing. For 8 years, our daughter was walking in darkness, living on the streets, and living out her substance abuse. There were days I blamed myself thinking her condition was due to sins I had lived out. For 6 years, heaven seemed to be silent until, like the widow, I laid her life at the feet of Jesus. I told Him if she couldn’t be healed on earth to please take her up and heal her life there. It was the hardest prayer but it somehow released my hopelessness, despair, and fear of death. Once I gave Him my daughter through that prayer, it was another two years but He did miraculous things and literally brought her back to life twice. She has lived out her testimony of change and new life for almost 17 years, with just 2 setbacks.

On the other hand, I prayed and prayed that my dad wouldn’t lose his life on earth to cancer. On his last day, March 16th, 2010 I felt his spirit slip out of body as my hand rested on his arm. I knew that through all my petitions and pleas that the Lord had chosen to take him to the Upper Room of Heaven and raise him up to his eternal life.

As I sit here this morning thinking about this passage, I am reminded of a few beautiful things. Just like Elijah stretched himself out on the boy three times, Christ stretched Himself out on the cross and was entombed for 3 days for you and me. Through this exchange our loved ones get the remarkable privilege of His resurrection by being resurrected either on earth or in Heaven. Both of my loved ones were revived into health, life, and fellowship with God. God blessed me on earth as well as in Heaven because of nothing I did but everything Christ did for me…for them…for you.

I picture Daddy playing the piano with an audience of the Trinity, his parents, his daughter, and so many more who have been taken to the Upper Room. I carry this image in my heart today as a reality, not some daughter’s imagination. Why? Because Jesus said so!