Dancing and Mourning: A Time for Everything

First published Friday, April 18, 2008 in The Daily Sentinel

I just returned from my second trip to Texas in less than a month. I wrote about the first trip just a couple of weeks ago. This trip was for the same reason: another grandmother passed away.

I’ve been dealing with a lot of deaths, lately. Both of my wife’s grandmothers die within a month of one another; and a very dear person from my congregation also passed away just a couple of weeks ago.

Many in our area knew Lois. She was a kind-hearted lady with very weak lungs. Yet, her lack of breath never lead to a lack of life. Lois enjoyed life to the fullest, and gave God praise for every breath she took. She was born with weak lungs, and I am told that she wasn’t expected to live much beyond her 20s. Whatever doctors expected that, Lois greatly exceeded their expectations!

When Lois’ funeral was held, it was truly a celebration of life! Allow me to share a brief portion of what was said then:

I asked Lois’ husband Don what first caught his eye about Lois all those years ago. He was quiet for several moments, as if reliving that time. Finally, he turned to me and said, “She was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen!”

I got a chance to look at some of her pictures from back then, and Don was right!! Lois was a beautiful girl. But as I looked at a photo of Lois from 1957, I said to Don, “You know, I don’t think 50 years made a bit of difference – she looks just about the same today.”

Lois’s beauty didn’t come from her youth. It came from how she lived her faith; she was a testimony of God’s love and commitment for not just 20 years, or 50 years, but for almost 79 years!

The Apostle Paul claimed that life in the Spirit gives life to our mortal bodies, and Lois is proof of that. Her mortal body received life long after it should have died. Miracle upon miracle occurred in her. She went to the hospital so many times with blood chemistry imbalances, lung troubles, kidney troubles… yet God gave her strength and healing time and time again.

So what made this past week any different? Why did Lois finally succumb to the health problems that she had overcome so many times before?

The answer to this question is much harder, more difficult. But I think that Paul’s second letter to Timothy provides a clue. Paul wrote that letter late in his life. He was imprisoned for sharing his faith in Jesus Christ – his opponents accused him of treason against Caesar because Paul refused to proclaim Caesar as divine. Paul recognized that his work on earth was nearly done, and so he wrote this letter to Timothy – a young man whom he had mentored to become a leader in the church. Paul is charging Timothy a final time.

But these words can come from more than Paul to Timothy, imagine Lois saying this to us:

You know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, and sufferings I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. But as for you, continue in what you have learned. You have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. I give you this charge: Live according to God’s Word; know Jesus Christ personally, deeply, intimately. Be prepared in season and out of season. For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.

Not very long ago, Lois’ health started to rapidly decline. When I saw her on that last Monday, she was not able to talk; she couldn’t eat. I talked with Don and his daughter about being prepared to let her go. It was a hard conversation, but we prayed together and left it in God’s hands. I didn’t expect to get to talk with Lois again in this life.

But God had one more miracle for Lois Bell. Monday night, Don called me at home and said he’d been able to talk with Lois on the phone for 10-15 minutes! When I arrived at the hospital on Tuesday, Lois was awake and talking. She recognized me, and when I told her Don was on his way, she started to cry. At first, I thought she was upset because she didn’t want Don to see her that way. But then I realized that her tears were tears of relief. She was going to get to see him and talk to him, and hold his hand one more time.

All the rest of that day, Lois was able to say her goodbyes. It wasn’t easy, but it was precious. She understood what was happening to her, and she accepted it because she knew what was waiting for her on the other side.

My friends, we can learn so much from the example of Lois. How to live life to the fullest while on this earth, how to trust in Jesus Christ and know him as our Savior and God, and to give our lives back to God with joy when our time comes.

The writer of Ecclesiastes wrote that “there is a time for mourning and a time for dancing.” When it comes to Lois and my wife’s grandmothers, I find that I am doing BOTH at the same time! I mourn for myself – I truly miss them. Yet I dance for them – they have earned their reward and are with Jesus Christ forever more!

I pray that when your time comes to face death, that you will also be able to dance. If you aren’t sure if you will, then I invite you to talk to a pastor about it. And I especially invite you to talk to Jesus about it!