That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. - John 3:15 KJV
This past Sunday, May 27, marked Pentecost. It also was the day when my dear friend, Bonnie, fell asleep in death. She was a handmaiden of the Lord Jesus Christ who had bravely raised two sons on her own after becoming a widow and who had heroically battled cancer never taking her eyes off of the King of Glory.
Her youngest son called me that same day to inform me of the severe downturn in her health neither of us realizing just how close to the end she was. As we spoke, I remembered a time several years ago when I had linked hands with members of the little country church we fellowshipped with to intercede for a brother who was dying of a brain tumor. "The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth forever," I quoted in part from 1 Peter 1:24-25 KJV. It was the verse that came into my spirit so I spoke it out. "I believe the Spirit of the Lord is saying that although this brother’s time to rest has come, the word of God that he has spoken will not fall to the ground."
This was the first time I had ever prayed in this manner for someone who was sick. I fellowshipped with Holy Spirit-filled people who believed in healing and who never gave up on the possibility of a miracle and I had been of the same mindset. I could sense that the others I was praying with were not in agreement with what I said and continued to pray for our friend’s healing; but I believed, for the first time in my life, that the Spirit of the Lord was saying that this good brother’s fight was over. Sadly, he did go to his eternal rest only days later.
The last time I talked with Bonnie she had been flown to a city in the Midwest where a group of brethren supplied her with housing and food and a peaceful room adjacent to the sanctuary where she could be ministered to and soak in the presence of Almighty Yahweh. “I’m doing what you said, Lyn.” Her voice sounded otherworldly yet joyful and light as she told me where she was and what she was doing. Although back at her hotel room when we spoke, she was still afloat in God’s river of love, but what had I said to her? I couldn’t remember even though I had talked to her only about a week before. “Remember, you spoke to me that the Lord said I should rest—that I had been mother and father and had done enough. Rest, rest, rest, you said.”
As I shared this with her son, he told me that he had said the same thing to her—that she had done enough and that she should simply rest. “I didn’t realize then that the Lord was referring to eternal rest.” I said remembering how I was taught that when the Lord repeats something three times, it is to indicate that something is complete. Even though she was still alive as we spoke, we both believed her time of struggle was coming to an end even though we had both sought the Lord for a miracle.
Bonnie and I became friends while attending services at the same church for some years. At one point she began to attend a different fellowship. Although she moved in a different circle then, she stood by me through a terrible ordeal. I’ll never forget how she showed up at my doorstep by the leading of the Holy Spirit. She had no natural knowledge of what was going on but knew by the Spirit that I desperately needed her friendship and prayerful support.
"I wish that I had gotten to know her better," I said to my husband because we had moved to another state and Bonnie and I talked less frequently. But then I thought on how as sisters in Christ we were both born of incorruptible seed--the promise of life everlasting--and that we have an eternity to get to know one another better.
Hallelu-Yah!
