Until We Meet Again, Little Brother: Isaiah’s Adventure Part 10

This evening, at 4:20 PM, our sweet little Isaiah left the land of the dying, to go to the land of the living. We were all with him in his last moments, holding his hand and feeling his chest, as his heart beats got further and further apart. We sang him into glory. Daddy says the angels picked up the chorus on the other side.

We were able to be with him all day, to cuddle with him in his bed, to kiss his cheek, squeeze his hand, and each have a few minutes alone with him to say our goodbyes, “Until we meet again, little brother.”

We are so thankful for these last days we have been able to spend with Isaiah. These have been sweet times of prayer, crying, grieving, rejoicing, and remembering. Isaiah’s testimony and the work God has done in our lives has been used to touch at least 40,000 people (that we know about), through social media, radio, articles, friends, family, and more. Isaiah would be so happy to know that God has used his life, faith, and death to touch so many hearts for Himself.

“For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth….so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth, it shall not return to me empty, but it will accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace…and it shall make a name for the Lord, an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.” (Isaiah 55).

Isaiah was so ready for heaven. God had put so much excitement in his heart – a true longing to depart and be with the Lord. “For to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21)

C.S. Lewis describes this longing so poignantly in his book, The Problem of Pain:
“All the things that have ever deeply possessed your soul have been but hints of it – tantalizing glimpses, promises never quite fulfilled, echoes that died away just as they caught your heart. But if it should really become manifest – if there ever came an echo that did not die away but swelled into the song itself – you would know it. Beyond all possibility of doubt, you would say, “Here are last is the thing I was made for.”

Isaiah knows it now. So fully. So perfectly. So completely. There is no sinful heart separating him from the full presence of God. He is there in Christ’s everlasting arms, and the glimpses have given way to the glorious picture, and the promises have been fulfilled, and the echoes have burst forth into the bountiful chorus.

“E’er since, by faith, I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.
And shall be till I die, and shall be till I die;
Redeeming love has been my theme, and shall be till I die.

Then in a nobler, sweeter song, I’ll sing Thy power to save,
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave.
Lies silent in the grave, lies silent in the grave;
When this poor lisping, stammering tongue lies silent in the grave.”
– There is a Fountain Filled With Blood

Our hearts are broken, but not crushed. Confused, but not without hope. Suffering, but not forsaken. Struck down, but not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:8-9).

It is hard to go home, and not have him running through the house, practicing his karate kicks on the living room floor. I keep counting him in for meals. I dished him out some soup today before I even knew what I was doing. But beautifully, heart-wrenchingly, in God’s perfect grace, there is a joy beneath the sorrow and pain.

There was peace in our hearts as we squeezed Isaiah’s hand for the last time, and kissed his scarred forehead – fast growing cold. There was peace as we left him in the hospital bed…it did not feel like he was there any longer. The pain is great. But his joy is greater, and in Him, our joy is found.

One of Isaiah’s favorite books was Pilgrim’s Progress. Maya says that they were talking the other day about the last few chapters when Christian crosses the river to the Celestial City: “Then they waded into the water, and upon entering, Christian began to sink. He cried out to his good friend Hopeful, saying, “I am sinking in deep waters; the billows are going over my head, all his waves go over me! Selah.” Then Hopeful said, “Be of good cheer, my brother. I feel the bottom, and it is good.”

In the story, one man tries to row across in a boat and he gets rejected at the gate. Isaiah said, “Yes, death is not so easy that you can row across it, but when you get to the other side, it is all worth it.”

We are so blessed to know that this is not how the story ends. That there is a day of triumph coming when death shall die and there shall be no more tears. When we shall rise again and see our sweet Isaiah, and join together once again, in song before our Lord.

“The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body….Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. or the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: ‘Death has been swallowed up in victory.'” 1 Corinthians 15:42-44, 51-54

Amen and Amen. Come quickly, thou Lord Jesus. Maranatha. Rest in His peace, little brother.

Christ, the Sure and Steady Anchor

Christ the sure and steady anchor, in the fury of the storm;
When the winds of doubt blow through me, and my sails have all been torn.
In the suffering, in the sorrow, when my sinking hopes are few;
I will hold fast to the anchor. It shall never be removed.

Christ the sure and stead anchor, while the tempest rages on;
When temptation claims the battle, and it seems the night has won,
Deeper still then goes the anchor, though I justly stand accused;
I will hold fast to the anchor. I shall never be removed.

Christ the sure and steady anchor, through the floods of unbelief;
Hopeless, somehow, O my soul, now lift your eyes to Calvary.
This my blast of assurance, see His love forever proved.
I will hold fast to the anchor. It shall never be removed.

Christ the sure and steady anchor, as we face the wave of death;
When these trials give way to glory as we draw our final breath.
We will cross that great horizon, clouds behind and life secure;
And the calm will be the better for the storms that we endure.

Soli Deo Gloria,