If God's Soldier's Grow Old, Do they Become Legends?

[Angelina]

I am a little sad... :unsure: I was chatting to a lovely elderly Christian gentleman in hospital today. He does not remember me but he has had a significant impact on my Christian walk. After spending 40 years in the mission field and being the first white missionary to Papua New Guinea, he had come home to basically retire and help out in his local Church. He has shared so many awesome stories about his exploits for God and as a new believer [or should I say, a new church adherent] many years ago, he taught me so many things and answered all my "newbie, difficult questions" like the dedicated and patient Christian mentor that he was.

God has an incredible way of placing mighty men and women of God in our lives to help us grow and equip us for the ministry...and this is certainly one of them. "Thank you Lord."

I can remember a very special conversation we had... when I once asked why some people believed that were predestined when I had always understood that we come to Jesus based on our own free will after hearing and believing his word and receiving him as Lord by grace through faith?
He did not have the answer and agreed that it needed to go into his "Too hard" basket until he could ask God himself when he got to heaven.

Then he explained it like this; "Just imagine now, that you were in front of the pearly gates and were just about to enter into Heaven. Imagine that there was a sign over the gate that read..."All who "will" may enter in by faith in Jesus." Then as you pass through those gates...another sign on the side says, "Predestined from the foundation of the world." That answer satisfied me completely! ^_^

Now I am looking at a very frail, elderly gentleman in palliative care with Dementia and Alzheimer's who is waiting to go home. He cannot remember me or how much of a blessing he has been, not only in my life but also many uncountable others. Now it is my turn to take care of him.

My question? Why does God not take him home [and others like him] rather than having to endure a few possible years with this progressively debilitating disease. Have they not fought the good fight of faith? Have they not finished the race? :huh:

 

[dak]

Perhaps he has simply entered into his cocoon-like tomb, (it is sealed with seven seals). But the Master has the key to the door of his tomb, (yea, even the keys to the tomb of every man). One day soon the stone will roll away from the door of his tomb and the brilliant white Light of Messiah will completely fill the chamber; at that time a neaniskos young man with a shimmering white stole will exit the tomb with Messiah for the final journey home. Only the eyes washed in the Spirit will see it when it happens. :)

 

[John S]

Angelina - Unless his country allows assisted suicide, then he will live for as long as his body hangs in there.

 

[Angelina]

hey daq,
I believe I may have found the answer in your reply...in a roundabout way! ;)
Thank you.

John S.
I don't think that killing him or assisting in suicide is the real answer since the Lord is the giver and taker of life. Why though, does he not just take them home after their "tour of duty" if you will. Why do they have to suffer just a little more????? :unsure:

 

[lforrest]

Think of this as your opportunity to repay him for his kindness over the years, in the same spirit as this verse 1 Timothy 5:4.
Are you not blessed by God when you're a blessing to others? Even in his debilitated state he continues to be a blessing to you, though indirectly now.

That said, I hope this horrible disease is cured. It is merely allowed by God as it has found a niche in his plan; we could do without it.

 

[Angelina]

Thank you for quietening my spirit with your words lforrest. Well said. I have an unction, a revelation from God that I am taking care of his tent while he drifts in and out. I recognize by the Spirit, when he is at home and when he is not.

I hope this horrible disease is cured. It is merely allowed by God as it has found a niche in his plan; we could do without it.

I am so interested in this area...and I do believe that there is a way of dealing with this cognitively degenerative disease...I think that the answer may lie in the families hereditary line. :huh:

Bless you!

 

[Rockerduck]

Our finite minds cannot fathom the infinite mind of God's will in our lives. We cannot know that God doesn't comfort the elderly with Alsheimer's in a different place we do not know. Rest assured, we belong to Jesus and He sustains us, and Jesus will never leave us or forsake us.

 

[Dan Clarkston]

Why do they have to suffer just a little more?????

Are you sure the Lord is the One doing this to them?

Jesus doesn't seem to believe this in John 10:10

 

[Angelina]

The Lord isn't doing this to them bro....what I'm saying is why does he just take them to heaven instead of suffering until they die?

 

[Pearl]

I am a little sad... :unsure: I was chatting to a lovely elderly Christian gentleman in hospital today. He does not remember me but he has had a significant impact on my Christian walk. After spending 40 years in the mission field and being the first white missionary to Papua New Guinea, he had come home to basically retire and help out in his local Church. He has shared so many awesome stories about his exploits for God and as a new believer [or should I say, a new church adherent] many years ago, he taught me so many things and answered all my "newbie, difficult questions" like the dedicated and patient Christian mentor that he was.

God has an incredible way of placing mighty men and women of God in our lives to help us grow and equip us for the ministry...and this is certainly one of them. "Thank you Lord."

I can remember a very special conversation we had... when I once asked why some people believed that were predestined when I had always understood that we come to Jesus based on our own free will after hearing and believing his word and receiving him as Lord by grace through faith?
He did not have the answer and agreed that it needed to go into his "Too hard" basket until he could ask God himself when he got to heaven.

Then he explained it like this; "Just imagine now, that you were in front of the pearly gates and were just about to enter into Heaven. Imagine that there was a sign over the gate that read..."All who "will" may enter in by faith in Jesus." Then as you pass through those gates...another sign on the side says, "Predestined from the foundation of the world." That answer satisfied me completely! ^_^

Now I am looking at a very frail, elderly gentleman in palliative care with Dementia and Alzheimer's who is waiting to go home. He cannot remember me or how much of a blessing he has been, not only in my life but also many uncountable others. Now it is my turn to take care of him.

My question? Why does God not take him home [and others like him] rather than having to endure a few possible years with this progressively debilitating disease. Have they not fought the good fight of faith? Have they not finished the race? :huh:

@Angelina I believe we all have our allotted time on earth and nothing we do can add or take away from that. As scripture says;

Psalm 139:16
Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

 

[Pearl]

The Lord isn't doing this to them bro....what I'm saying is why does he just take them to heaven instead of suffering until they die?

That's a question that anybody who has spent time with a very sick loved one would have asked. I remember a few weeks ago @Nancy had a friend who was terminally ill and was glad when her friend was released to go 'home' to Jesus.

 

[Nancy]

The Lord isn't doing this to them bro....what I'm saying is why does he just take them to heaven instead of suffering until they die?

My father comes to mind. He came to faith in Christ in his late 50's. I attribute that to my mother (and the Holy Spirit of course). He suffered for well over a decade and finally succumbed at 63 years old to his issues.
I often wondered with the length of suffering was that God was working in his heart all his time, bringing things to mind, sins needing repented of, so on. I've also seen this with so many patients in the hospitals I worked in over decades. I would wonder why some are taken so quickly (like my sweetest mom) and others lingered in pain and God only knows what, in their hearts and minds.
He gives us every opportunity to repent; right up to the last breath...my own opinion.
xx

 

[amadeus]

The Lord isn't doing this to them bro....what I'm saying is why does he just take them to heaven instead of suffering until they die?

Perhaps their limited and sometimes even seemingly negative interaction with you and a few other people is a necessary part of God's plan that we are unable to see immediately... What is God's plan?

Jer 10:23

O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps.

Does a person without dementia necessarily know more about God's Way than one so afflicted?

 

[Pearl]

My son-in-law's mother had been ill for a long time and her family learned how to care for her at home but eventually she had to go to hospital and her family were told it was the end. But it wasn't she lived for another couple of weeks and I often wonder if that was God's way of giving her a chance to repent and come to Jesus.

 

[amadeus]

My son-in-law's mother had been ill for a long time and her family learned how to care for her at home but eventually she had to go to hospital and her family were told it was the end. But it wasn't she lived for another couple of weeks and I often wonder if that was God's way of giving her a chance to repent and come to Jesus.

We may not know, sister, but God certainly knows.

 

[Rita]

You know it’s not always about the person going through things, it’s also about the people around them, family, friends, nurses, care workers ect ect. Timing may be for them as God maybe equally working and using the person to minister and change and giving them the grace to inwardly be sustained x

 

[dak]

hey daq,
I believe I may have found the answer in your reply...in a roundabout way! ;)
Thank you.

John S.
I don't think that killing him or assisting in suicide is the real answer since the Lord is the giver and taker of life. Why though, does he not just take them home after their "tour of duty" if you will. Why do they have to suffer just a little more????? :unsure:

Hi Angelina, I was just digging through some old threads on this board and saw this, it must have been just before I left because I see I did not respond to your post. Anyway, your are very welcome, and I hope your mentor went home peacefully, (assuming he has passed after all this time).

Shalom-Peace.

 

[Angelina]

@dak my old friend. Thank you for answering xox

 

[Jericho]

I wrote about my dad here, and asked the same "why" questions. Near the end, he was as worse off as anyone I've ever seen. I don't think we will fully understand why some things happen the way they do on this side of eternity. But I keep coming back to what Paul said: "For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison," -2Co 4:17. Whatever suffering we experience in this brief life on earth won't compare to the glory we experience in heaven for all eternity. I'm also remined of another verse: “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive. (Gen 50:20). The lessons and experiences from this life we take with us, even the bad ones, will serve us in eternity in our future roles. There is something good that will come out of it.

 

[Jericho]

I am so interested in this area...and I do believe that there is a way of dealing with this cognitively degenerative disease...I think that the answer may lie in the families hereditary line. :huh:

Off topic, but health is also an interest of mine. There is something that people who are elderly and have physical/mental decline have in common: they don't have much muscle (or poor quality muscle). Muscle is highly undervalued in its role in health. Muscle is actually the organ of longevity (Dr. Gabrielle Lyon talks a lot about this). The reason is, muscle contains the largest amount of mitochondria. Mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cells, so, dysfunctional cells are really where disease begins. But as we age, we naturally lose muscle (called sarcopenia). So, if you lose your muscle with age, you lose your metabolic currency, and frailty begins. That, of course, can be negated through exercise (weight training) and increasing protein intake (we need more as we age because our bodies can't absorb as readily). Jack Lalanne was really a good example of this in action. He died at the ripe old age of 96 and was still working out the day before he died.