95 Years of God's Grace

Psalm 116:15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

     Tonight I had the privilege of ministering to the family of one of our church members who is dying at the age of 95 years old. This lady has been a member of Pleasant Hill Baptist since the 1930's, where she began to attend after being married at 16 and had her first child at the age of 17 years old. She was a tobacco farmers wife, who knew something about hard work, as she raised a family of 4 children (2 boys and 2 girls). This lady never made headlines or wrote a book, but lived her life in simplicity and faithfulness to her God and her family. Tonight I witnessed God in His mercy give dying grace to a 95 year old saint.
     As I sat with her children tonight, which is only 3 now as she lost a son a couple of years ago, I was able to listen in on a lot of stories and memories they had of their mother. The daughters spoke about having to work in the tobacco field with their daddy at an early age and at about 10:00 a.m. he would send them to the house to help momma with making lunch for all the farm hands. They said, "none of the women ate until the men ate first, sometimes it was slim pickings." The daughters said, "momma finally wised up and started putting a little back for us, so we would have something to eat." We all got a laugh out of that!
     Another storie they shared was their daddy never allowed their momma to work in the field. He always made sure he had plenty of help, of course that wasn't a problem because everyone knew if you helped on daddy's farm you was going to get fed good. The daughters said, "there was enough food cooked in that kitchen to feed Robertson County." Back them no one paid for help, rather everyone would go help each other cut their tobacco and when one person got their crop finished their family would go help the other families get their crop finished.
     Most of all this lady loved God and her Lord Jesus Christ. I remember when I first came to the church her son (who is one of my deacons) would bring his mother to church, even when did not feel well. She would come prepared to hear God's Word, as she would have Bible in hand and would faithfully follow along as I preached. She loved to read God's Word and to pray for PHBC until the end. 
     
Some things I gleaned tonight from shepherding this family:
1. God's sheep need to be shepherded until the end. (1 Peter 5:2) "shepherd the flock of God that is among you..." As a pastor the reality of what my duty is becoming more clearer with each passing day. Not only I am I charged to preach the word in "public" but also in "private." The private ministry of God's Word is often done more by me as a pastor than in public. I was able to minister God's Word to this saint, shepherding her soul until the end. What a joy.

2. Families want to be shepherded during their time of loss. Having the privilege to share God's Word and to pray with this family was a great blessing tonight as they desired to hear from God at such a crucial time in their life. By the way, only God's Word can sooth a hurting soul. I reflected on several passages with them as I read John 14, Psalm 116, Ephesians 1:1-14, 2 Cor.5 and reminded them of the promises of God in His Word. Not only was I able to shepherd my deacons soul, but also his sisters, a grandson and a granddaughter. God's Word is sufficient!

3. Ministry of presence does mean something. I know as pastors our schedules are demanding and those pastors with large congregations it is difficult to do what I was able to do tonight. This is one reason I am writing and thanking God for the opportunity to shepherd this family, because not all senior pastors has this privilege.  Just being there tonight with the family I believe brought about a sense of peace, as I shared God's Word and prayed. I encourage pastors even if you do not know what to say or how to say it, just be there for the people God has entrusted to you.

4.Tonight ministered more to me than I did to them. As is so often the case, I go to minister to a family, but always leave being ministered to. My short time of knowing her brought me to a place of being in a room filled with her family and them testifying of a godly mother's life in the Lord. I was ministered to as I saw 95 years of God's grace in this woman's life coming to a close on this earth. I saw laying there a testimony of faith, perseverance, and the love of Christ for which God in His grace had given her. I believe tonight her testimony added, encouraged and strengthened my faith, as I pray it has her families for God's glory!

     Tonight reminded me again of the great privilege I have to shepherd God's flock. Just to spend 3 or 4 hours with a family sharing God's Word and to pray with them at the end of 95 years of God's grace in their mother's life was pure joy.