It is Well

Very few days are as difficult as these times in our lives. As we find ourselves lost, confused, in pain both physically and emotionally. Days like today leave a mark on us that never leaves as long as we live and breathe. What I can tell you about Beverly is that she was faithful to her God. While unable to attend in person she was faithful in watching the stream, but more importantly she had a personal and meaningful relationship with God that had nothing to do with the church. While a wonderful part of our fellowship she understood the importance of her personal relationship with God. This morning it is my prayer that in this short time in God’s word that you will understand how Beverly was able to say it is well. Turn with me in your Bible to Revelation 21: 4

Revelation 21:4 ESV

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

There are three things that Beverly understood that allowed her to live in a heart that said it is well. First she knew who He was. Second She believed in what He promised. Third She left the old self behind. Let’s pray.

Who He is

Revelation 21:4 ESV

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

If there were one message that Beverly would want for everyone to understand, it would be how to have rest in your soul. As she found a place of all things being well with her soul, it was not because all things were well. Anyone in here who knew Beverly knew the years of pain that she endured and how Rick and she did everything they could to find a remedy to that pain. We prayed daily for her and asked God to heal her, guide her doctors to a solution and it seemed at every corner she was met with more pain. Yet in all of that she found a place of saying it is well with my soul. When I am suffering and in pain it is well with my soul. How is it that she got to this point? She got to this point because she knew who He in this scripture was. He in this scripture is God. A father who has given everything to restore a broken relationship and to bring us back to Him. Beverly understood who God was and what that meant for her in her life. Knowing who someone is, is very important. As I have gotten to know the amazing story of how Rick and Beverley were truly a love at first sight story, I also understand the dynamics of getting to know one another. In their early days and really marked in their entire marriage they were inseparable. Why were they inseparable? Because it was important for each of them to know who the other person was. They fell in love with the other and were married for all these years as best friends. As it was they knew each other and that lead to their success in marriage. As with any relationship it is Important to know the other person. Rick, Beverly found a best friend in you. She found a true support and someone who would give up themselves for her. You are an example to all of us. More importantly Beverly got to know God and to seek Him in her life. She believed in the scriptures about who God is. 1 John 3:1

1 John 3:1 ESV

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Psalm 68:5–6 ESV

Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. God settles the solitary in a home; he leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.

2 Corinthians 6:16–18 ESV

What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”

Beverly knew God and loved God. This gives us 2things this morning. First confidence and hope of seeing her again. Second, encouragement to live the same. The first thing for you to live this same life of confidence is to know who He is. Second she believed in what He promised.

Believe His Promises

Revelation 21:4 ESV

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Beverly put her trust in God because she was confident in His promise to take her to a place where death would be no more, where the physical pain would leave and she would never have to be under the pressure of pain. She believed it and it showed. Beverly knew God and she believed in His promises. Rick and Beverly married in________________________. They did not get married because Beverly wanted a life of just getting by. Beverly did not marry Rick because she just needed to settle down. She married Rick because she knew who he was and she believed his promises to take care of her and man did he fulfill those promises. Beverly experienced a wonderful life with wonderful children and a husband who would do anything to keep the promises that he made on their wedding day. It is important to believe in the promises that we are made, you cannot always trust some peoples promises. We can always trust in God’s promises. Romans 8:28

Romans 8:28 ESV

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

Psalm 9:10 ESV

And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Was it that she believed everything would be perfect here that gave her the strength to trust in God? No, Beverly experienced plenty of pain here that we do not feel she deserved to go through. What she believed though is God’s eternal promises that she would be made whole. Beverly sits with the Lord today in no pain, completely made whole. She knew who He was, she believed in His promises, and she left the old self behind.

Left the old self behind

Revelation 21:4 ESV

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Beverly knew who God was, she trusted His promises and she allowed the former ways of living yo pass away. Beverly said it is well, because she moved into a new way of living. She committed to loving God and loving others as herself. She had a Godly example of a husband and she had children who she deeply loved along with her grand children and all of her family. Beverly was the type where you could tell something was different about her,p. You could tell that she had a personal experience with God and it changed who she was. I’ve not found a single person that shared even a slightly bad story of Beverly. It is because she allowed the former things to pass away. She lived for each and everyone of you in here today. Her friends, her family, and even those who might be considered enemies. Beverly was a new creation in God. Rick when Beverly married you she left the single person behind, she became a wife and a great wife at that. She became a mother and a wonderful mother. She was a friend and the longer you knew her the better of a friend she was. She knew what it meant to leave the old self behind and to seek God. I’m going to close the message here momentarily but I would like for us to all honor this hear the Beverly had towards God, it is so,ethi game would want for you to get to experienced this felling of “it is well”.

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Ephesians 4:22–24 ESV

to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Romans 6:4 ESV

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

1 Peter 1:3 ESV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

Pray with me this afternoon.