Life and Death....
Last week we had a very sad loss here in Bali. One of the radio staff here at Mercy passed away. I had met her on one of my earlier trips to Bali but have not had any contact with her since I've been here now. She was the wife of the first Mercy staff member I ever met face to face, Pak Iwan. I watched her daughter break down in tears on the final day of funeral services and it made me think about the people I love. I'm the kind of person that if I see someone cry I also begin to get emotional. It was hard to hold back tears as I imagined the pain she was going through. Funerals are very different here in Indonesia but one of my strengths is empathy for people. So differences aside I still wanted to give her a big hug and say it was going to be ok.
Death brings up many questions in people's lives and you are forced to look internally at things that you value. It tends to put things in perspective because you are reminded of the fragility and shortness of life. Even though the funeral process here in Indonesia was a major culture shock for me, Ibu Titik's passing stirred the same thoughts in my mind. Am I ready to die? Or in other words am I making the most of my life? Being in my 20's still, of course I feel like there is so much more life to live BUT the question that I ponder is would I be satisfied if this was the end. Would you be satisfied? I remember an activity I did with my Pastor in a discipleship group he ran. We had to go away and write our eulogy. At first it sounded so morbid. But as I started writing out the words that I wanted people to remember me by I was challenged to reflect on who I wanted to be and what I wanted to achieve in life. Reflecting on what you want people to say about you when you are gone really helps workout your goals and dreams for life. I remember listening to everyone in the group as we read out loud our eulogies. In the room there were pastors, presidents, businessmen. No one held back, there was no “if everything goes to plan”, “if I get good grades”, “if I don’t stuff up.” This was the outcome of their life. I really enjoyed the activity and to this day I still go back and read it sometimes. I keep it saved on my computer and a printed copy in the back of my bible. Please be aware we were an intimate group, personally selected by our pastor, I wouldn’t encourage you share your greatest dreams with every Joe Blow. It’s important to verbalise our dreams and do things to position ourselves to achieve them but it is also our responsibility to guard them from those that will discourage you from being the best you. On that note, it’s great to have massive dreams for our lives but in reality majority of people don’t make it. Life was too short for them or circumstances and discouragement stood in their way of achieving such dreams.
The evening after the funeral I began to meditate on the scriptures shared in morning chapel that day Romans 8:31-39 (link to full passage). It’s was great encouragement to the Mercy team and as I spent more time looking into it, I was reminded that even though everything around us is uncertain. One thing will always remain.
Originally I used to think, oh that’s nice God loves us. But when you study these verse, you realise it’s not just love that will give us cuddles and warm fuzzy feelings when we are down but it’s a love that would do ABSOLUTELYanything for us to succeed. It’s a love that puts our needs before and above all else. Now put it in perspective. God, creator of the universe, a force bigger than we could ever imagine, capable of the impossible, is on our side and loves us! Not just loves us but really LOVES us. It kind of reminds me of the little kid that tries to start fights with kids much bigger, stronger and faster than him. You know the one who gives you lip and acts like a complete jerk. He acts like that because he knows that if anyone seriously challenges him, he either has a big brother who will thump anyone who harms him or has friends who are bigger, faster and stronger than the ones he is taunting. As annoying as that kid is, he has total confidence in his backing. We need to have that same confidence in God. The message bible puts it like this, “31 So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? 32 If God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? 33 And who dare tangle with God by messing with one of God’s chosen?"
But then I thought,“Did I really know that it was going to be ok?”
Death brings up many questions in people's lives and you are forced to look internally at things that you value. It tends to put things in perspective because you are reminded of the fragility and shortness of life. Even though the funeral process here in Indonesia was a major culture shock for me, Ibu Titik's passing stirred the same thoughts in my mind. Am I ready to die? Or in other words am I making the most of my life? Being in my 20's still, of course I feel like there is so much more life to live BUT the question that I ponder is would I be satisfied if this was the end. Would you be satisfied? I remember an activity I did with my Pastor in a discipleship group he ran. We had to go away and write our eulogy. At first it sounded so morbid. But as I started writing out the words that I wanted people to remember me by I was challenged to reflect on who I wanted to be and what I wanted to achieve in life. Reflecting on what you want people to say about you when you are gone really helps workout your goals and dreams for life. I remember listening to everyone in the group as we read out loud our eulogies. In the room there were pastors, presidents, businessmen. No one held back, there was no “if everything goes to plan”, “if I get good grades”, “if I don’t stuff up.” This was the outcome of their life. I really enjoyed the activity and to this day I still go back and read it sometimes. I keep it saved on my computer and a printed copy in the back of my bible. Please be aware we were an intimate group, personally selected by our pastor, I wouldn’t encourage you share your greatest dreams with every Joe Blow. It’s important to verbalise our dreams and do things to position ourselves to achieve them but it is also our responsibility to guard them from those that will discourage you from being the best you. On that note, it’s great to have massive dreams for our lives but in reality majority of people don’t make it. Life was too short for them or circumstances and discouragement stood in their way of achieving such dreams.
With life being so uncertain and at times so out of our own control, how can we possibly have hope when things happen and people change?
The evening after the funeral I began to meditate on the scriptures shared in morning chapel that day Romans 8:31-39 (link to full passage). It’s was great encouragement to the Mercy team and as I spent more time looking into it, I was reminded that even though everything around us is uncertain. One thing will always remain.
“37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. 38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Life is short, yes. Life is hard, yes. Life is uncontrollable, yes. But don’t lose hope; don’t give up on your dreams. And don’t be afraid to have great dreams. God is on your side.
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