HOW TO SEE LIFE IN THE MIDDLE OF DEATH

I poked a little fun at my sister and brother-in-law, who were buying a house next door to the cemetery.

"Hmmm. Guess you guys plan to make this move permanent," I said.

But death was no longer a joke.

My sister Mary pointed to a vacant spot outside her bedroom window.

“Bury me there," she instructed, "That way, the family dog can come by and pee on my grave."

"Mary!"

My shock amused her; she smiled as she lay back in her hospital bed and shut her eyes. 

We were trying our best to fight the fear that surrounded us.

The blinds were down but tilted open just enough to reveal the reality of what lay ahead.

Everywhere I looked, gravestones lined the perimeter.

One monument caught my eye and glared back at me, its victim's name, "RICE," etched across its stony chest. I didn't know the family, but I could imagine their pain.

While Mary slept, I stared down the "RICE" gravestone, refusing to blink, but it was hopeless. Tears escaped as my head dropped in defeat.

Who gets the final word? I wondered.

Just then, a Bible verse came to mind, something Jesus said to another heartbroken sister living on the graveyard's edge.

"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" John 11:25-26

I did believe; Mary did, too.

Our present location boasted a graveyard view, but Jesus points us all to a resurrection in our future. 

To see it, we must look up.

I raised my chin ever so slightly and looked back through the shadowed blinds at the "RICE" marker that had taunted me. 

The word changed.

"RISE," it said.

When we look at Jesus Christ, we see hope where none existed before.

Because Jesus said that if we believe in Him, death isn't the end. 

Life is.

The world tries to carve our fate in stone, but Jesus Christ is the Rock on which we stand. 

Life may border fear and death, but evil cannot overrun you.  When it comes to His beloved children, that's where Jesus draws the line.

Even here, even now, you can make a move of faith.

Lift your head, child of God.

Your heart’s location is about to change.

You are going to RISE.