The week
before we finished 1 Thessalonians 4 with Paul reviewing the rapture event with
the group of new believers. This week we
read 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 in which Paul told the church about the day of the
Lord which occurs after the rapture. It
is inevitable, sudden, and inescapable.
Which is why he used the simile of labor pains upon a pregnant
woman.
As
believers, we can respond to this news with faith, love, and hope. We use these to encourage other believers,
build each other up, and stay focused on our commission to offer hope in a
hopeless world.
We read
several stories during LG. One story
was how Jim Bakker is now selling End of the World Biscuits on his website for
donations at marked up prices. You can
see other items and “donation” amounts here. You
can pick up a Time of Trouble food bucket for $3,000!!
We closed
with a story about the woman who wanted to be buried with her fork. It was a great reminder of how the best is
yet to come. Do you believe it? Are you responding to your family with faith,
love, and hope? Do people at work see
it? Do your friends? Does your community?
My challenge
this week is to be intentional in asking God to show you how to encourage
others every day this week.
STORY
There was a
woman who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness and had been given three
months to live. As she was getting her things in order she contacted her pastor
and had him come to her house to discuss certain aspects of her final wishes.
She told him which songs she wanted sung at her service, what scriptures she
would like read and what outfit she wanted to be buried in. The woman also
requested to be buried with her favorite Bible. Everything was in order and the
pastor was preparing to leave when the woman suddenly remembered something very
important to her.
“There is
one more thing,” she said excitedly.
“What is
that?” came the pastor’s reply.“This is very important,” the woman continued. “I want to be buried with a fork in my right hand.”
The pastor stood looking at the woman, not knowing quite what to say.
“That surprises you, doesn’t it?” the woman asked.
“Well to be honest, I am puzzled by the request,” replied the pastor.
The woman
explained, “In all my years of attending church socials and pot luck dinners, I
always remember that when the dishes of the main course were being cleared,
someone would inevitably lean over and say, ‘Keep your fork.’ It was my
favorite part because I knew that something better was coming…like velvety
chocolate cake or deep-dish apple pie. Something wonderful, and with substance!
So, I just want people to see me there in the casket with a fork in my hand and
I want them to wonder, ‘What is with the fork?’ Then I want you to tell them:
“Keep your fork…the best is yet to come!”
The pastor’s
eyes welled up with tears of joy as he hugged the woman good-bye. He knew that
this would be one of the last times he would see her before her death. But he
also knew that the woman had a better grasp of heaven than he did. She knew that something better was coming.
At the
funeral people were walking by the woman’s casket and they would notice the
pretty dress she was wearing, her favorite Bible and the fork placed in her
right hand. Over and over, the pastor heard the question, “What is with the
fork?” And over and over he smiled. During his message, the pastor told the
people of the conversation he had with the woman shortly before she died. He
also told them about the fork and about what it symbolized to her. The pastor
told the people how he could not stop thinking about the fork and told them
that they probably would not be able to stop thinking about it either. He was
right. So the next time you reach down for your fork, let it remind you, “That
the best is yet to come!”
