Finish Well

Norma had worked 36 years as an Executive Secretary for Borg Warner. She was an active member of Fairlawn Baptist Church where she was a greeter, organist and pianist. She loved decorating and would decorate her home with twenty Christmas trees for the holiday tour.

Norma is survived by her husband of 43 years Bill Cottrell; daughter Lela Ronan of FL; granddaughters Morgan and Maggie Courter.

In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by her brother Carroll Slider

Seven Exhortations for Finishing Well

Psalm 71:8–9 ESV

My mouth is filled with your praise, and with your glory all the day. Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent.

Psalm 71:17–18 ESV

O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.

Psalm 71:

I thought: I could speak of Norma and the spectacular truth that

she is more alive right now than we are; she has no more pain or discomfort; she has completely ceased to sin; her attitude and her words and her deeds will henceforth be perfect; and best of all, she no longer sees through a glass dimly, but face to face.

We could linger over all the good things that are true of Norma right now and forever. And that would be good. It be wonderful.

But it seemed to me that Norma might want me mainly to encourage and exhort and strengthen us for the aging and dying every one of us will have to do.

Get Ready to Meet Jesus

As I was thinking this past week with my young cousins, it takes enormous energy to raise kids. So God has planned that children be born to parents that are young. Old people would struggle if they had babies have babies. Karmen and I have considered adoption but we are not as young as we once were. To be a success as a parent, you need energy. You need more. But not less.

At the other end of life, when we are not bringing people into the world, but preparing to leave, energy is not the key to success. The day will come when we may not even be able get out of bed. And at that moment, you can be a success. The key to getting old and dying well is God’s word and God’s grace.

So I would like to take the wisdom and grace of — the prayer of an aging man — and give it to you in seven exhortations. And since I am more quickly than I care to admit, becoming one of these old men now, instead of saying you, I am going to say us. And instead of saying, “You do . . .” I’m going to say, “Let’s do. . .” And in the process, I think we will be greatly encouraged about Jean.

We could call these seven resolutions from God’s word and God’s grace for aging and getting ready to meet Jesus. Each of them is based on .

1) Let’s resolve to take refuge in God rather than taking offense at our troubles.

Psalm 71:1 ESV

In you, O Lord, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame!

As makes plain, we have a refuge from every storm and every enemy.

Psalm 46 ESV

To the choirmaster. Of the Sons of Korah. According to Alamoth. A Song. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

And when we forget that we are safe in God, we start to take offense at our troubles. I don’t want to get old complaining.

If Norma had a complaining side at all to her, which we all do, she’s done complaining now.

2) Let’s resolve to remember with a sense of awe and thanks the thousands of times we have leaned on God since our youth.

psalm

Psalm 71:5–6 ESV

For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth. Upon you I have leaned from before my birth; you are he who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you.

Psalm 71:

Psalm 71:17 ESV

O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.

God’s grace is like a faucet of water that flows out of the future of God’s promises every day of our lives. It does not stop flowing. Instead it spills over the edge of the glass and floods the present moment with the presence and power of God’s grace.

And as we look back, we should be filled with thankfulness. And as we look forward, that thankfulness should turn in to hope.

3) Let’s resolve to speak to God more and more about all his greatness, until there is no room left in our mouths for complaining.

Psalm 71:6 ESV

Upon you I have leaned from before my birth; you are he who took me from my mother’s womb. My praise is continually of you.

Psalm 71:14 ESV

But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more.

The longer we live, the more we should praise. Isn’t that amazing? We are so prone to think of our waning powers and be discouraged. But for God’s children, the day is getting brighter and brighter.

Norma is in paradise right now. If we could only keep this before us, we would praise him more and more.

Romans 8:18 ESV

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

4) Let us resolve to be people of a rugged, undefeatable hope and not give in to despair, even in the nursing home or hospital, and even if we outlive all our friends.

Psalm 71:14 ESV

But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more.

This will be a great battle. It was for Norma. It will be for us. We will get to the point where we feel useless and too weak to do any good. And the temptation to despair will be huge.

But this old man said, “I will hope continually.” And Peter said,

1 Peter 1:13 ESV

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Jesus said, Always pray and do not lose heart (see ). And Paul knew exactly what the danger of aging is:

2 Corinthians

2 Corinthians 4:16–18 ESV

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

5) Let us resolve to go out of our way to find people to tell about God’s wonderful acts of salvation, that never run out, because they are innumerable.

Psalm 71:15 ESV

My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge.

Psalm 71:18 ESV

So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come.

Nothing is more energizing than speaking of God’s wonders to someone else.

6) Let us resolve to remember that there are great things about God above our imagination, and soon enough, like Norma, we will know these too.

Psalm 71:18–19 ESV

So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come. Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you?

There will always be things that are over our heads. We are not God. So let’s let God be God and wait patiently for the day when we will know even as we are known.

7) Finally, let’s resolve to resist all stuffy stereotypes of old people, and play and sing and shout with joy whether we look dignified or not.

Let’s not take life so serious that we miss the joy of the Lord!

Psalm 71:22–23 ESV

I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel. My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have redeemed.

There won’t be any phoniness in heaven. There will only be complete authenticity. We will discover what childlikeness was really meant to be.

We will be free. For freedom Christ has set you free. Let’s do this. Don’t lose heart.

1 Thessalonians 5:9–10 ESV

For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.

We don’t face this life or death alone.

Psalm 23 ESV

A Psalm of David. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

1) MY shepherd

2) He RESTORES my soul---From a state of emptiness to a state of fullness.

Our trials empty us emotionally. We are numb and empty with a pain that penetrates this flesh and strikes to the depth of our soul. We have the opportunity as children of God to go to Him and find restoration:

1. That comes through communication and relationship with God.

2. That comes through working through the grief process.

We don’t face this life or death without promises.

Casting all your care upon him; for he cares for you.

1 Peter 5:7 ESV

casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Matthew 11:28 ESV

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

Psalm 132:14 ESV

“This is my resting place forever; here I will dwell, for I have desired it.

Philippians 4:7 ESV

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Phil

I don’t want these scriptures today to simply act as a bandaid to your pain. I want to express to you the reality of what a relationship with God offers to us.

For the child of God, trials and tribulations are still present. The difference is that we have the hand of our Savior to hold while we go through them.

This world is not all there is. There is a greater hope, a greater place and a greater presence! All of which, Norma sees fully today!!

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.”

Thomas A. Dorsey

knew what it meant to find God’s presence even in the worst of times. Dorsey is the composer of one of the world’s best-known Gospel songs —he wrote it just one week after he experienced two personal tragedies.

In August 1932, Dorsey was scheduled to be the feature soloist at religious services in St. Louis. Because his wife Nettie was pregnant, Dorsey had reservations about leaving her behind. "Something was strongly telling me to stay," he recalls. Yet, commitments had been made and he knew people in St. Louis would be disappointed if he canceled. So Tom Dorsey left for the revival service. During the performance the next night in the steaming St. Louis heat, a messenger from Western Union approached Dorsey on the stage with a telegram. Puzzled, Dorsey opened the envelope and read the four devastating words: "Your wife just died." He rushed to a phone and called home, only to hear it confirmed: "Nettie is dead."

Dorsey quickly returned to Chicago. There he learned that just before his wife died she had given birth to a boy. Later that night, the baby died. Dorsey now had to deal with two losses, two funerals. "I buried Nettie and our boy in the same casket," he says. "Then I fell apart."

During this painful time, one of Dorsey’s friends made arrangements for him to use a local music school’s piano.

There, alone with his thoughts and a piano, Dorsey describes what happened:

"I sat down at the piano and my hands began to browse over the keys. Then something happened. I felt as though I could reach out and touch God. I found myself playing a melody, one I’d never heard or played before, and words came into my head -- they just seemed to fall into place:

’Precious Lord, take my hand,/Lead me on, let me stand,/I am tired, I am weak, I am worn,/ Through the storm, through the night/Lead me on to the light,/Take my hand, precious Lord,/Lead me home.’"

May the same God that Norma now sees face to face and that gave Thomas Dorsey such powerful words, bring each of us the comfort we need today as well as the strength to finish well in His service.

Graveside

1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 ESV

But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.

Today is not the end, we will see the loved ones that go on before us again when they have placed their trust in Christ. Then, as long as we have that same trust, we can be reunited one day with them.

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