We shall see Him

As I set to compose this article, I am also considering the devastating news from a dear beloved friend who has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

One of the most difficult questions any pastor can be asked is, “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

I still remember the phone call from my niece to inform me that my only sister had been called home due to ALS. I recall the agony in her voice when she said, “Uncle Bruce you are a pastor. Please tell me why God allowed my mother to suffer this way?” There are theological answers, of course, but they are of little use when the hurt is so fresh.

Being afflicted with early onset Alzheimer’s disease, Thomas DeBaggio chronicled his gradual memory loss in the book “Losing My Mind.” This book records the disturbing process by which, little by little, task, places and people are all forgotten.

Alzheimer’s Disease involves the failure of nerve cells in the brain which lead to gradual memory loss, confusion and disorientation. It can be tragic to watch a previously mentally alert person slowly forget how to dress or fail to recognize the faces of loved ones. It’s like losing the person before they actually die.

Memory loss can occur by other means as well, such as injury or life trauma. And for those of us who live into old age, the breakdown of our bodies is inevitable.

For the Christian, though, there is hope. When Believers receive their glorified bodies at the resurrection, they will be perfect, as the apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 5:1, “Now we know that if this earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.”

But even more important, we will recognize the One who died to redeem us. We will remember what He did and know Him by the nail prints in His hands.

When the other disciples told Thomas that they had seen the Lord after the resurrection, Thomas replied in John 20:25, “Unless I see the nail marks in His hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe it.” A week later Jesus again appeared to the Disciples, including Thomas, and the Lord said to him in verse 27: “Put your finger here; see My hands. Reach out your hand and put it into My side. Stop doubting and believe,” to which Thomas could only reply in verse 28: “My Lord and My God!”

Forgetfulness may beset our earthly bodies, they may be ravaged with awful diseases like Alzheimer’s or ALS, but when we see the Lord, “We shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).

As George Whitefield reminded us, “How sweet is the rest after fatigue! How sweet will heaven be when our journey is ended.”

No more pain, sorrow, or death—no more ALS or Alzheimer’s.