Resurrection Suggestion

By Michael Q. Pink

“And he said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.” (Luke 16:31)

Less than a fortnight ago, my wife of 24 years (yesterday was our anniversary) entered into the joy of her reward. I am so very happy for her. She fought hard, never wavered, encouraged thousands and died at peace, full of a revelation of God I can only envy. I received so much love and support from you and I read every email and every post, numbering in the thousands. Believe me when I tell you how much your encouragement meant to me. It was crucial.

When she died, I received numerous requests to call her forth, to raise her from the dead. The logic was simple… God had promised in November that He wasn’t through with her yet and that she would influence many. With such a big promise, many thought it only made sense to believe that God would raise her from the dead. What an incredible testimony it would be, was the thought. Made sense to me, but Jesus in Luke 16 flat out disagrees. He says, though one is raised from the dead, folks will not be persuaded if they hear not Moses and the prophets. Who am I to disagree with Him?

As it turned out, God wasn’t finished with her in November and she did influence thousands of lives in her last two months on earth, more than her previous years combined. When she drew her last breath, I asked the care givers to step out of the room, allowing me to hold my wife one last time and grieve deeply in private. Before anyone could suggest I believe God for a resurrection of her physical body, I was already on that trail. In fact, I prayed to that end twice; once moments after she died and once the day of her celebration service. To no avail.

I must confess however, my prayer lacked meaningful conviction. You see, when I sat by her bedside holding her limp, swollen, lifeless hands knowing full well where she was (absent from the body, present with the Lord) I didn’t have the heart to bring her back, even if I knew for sure I could. She had struggled so much, fought so hard, endured such trials and now she was out of pain, free from fever, full of vitality and enjoying freedom of movement and joy unspeakable. It seemed so cruel to me to call her back to assuage my grief. She was entering into her reward and I didn’t have the heart to delay that reward any longer, even if I could.

Since her passing, God is filling my cup with so much. I hope to pass on to you a lot of that in coming days whether by this blog or in Denver in person. Either way, I hope you will stay in touch so we can grow together.