First off, I am saying thank you to all who have prayed for me and my family over the last two weeks. My cousin, Joseph, went home to be with Jesus after a car accident almost two weeks ago. He fell asleep and woke up in Heaven. Please continue to remember all of his family and friends in your prayers.
It is in times like these that the strength of our faith is revealed, and my family has shown incredible faith. Joseph's parents, my aunt and uncle, both spoke at his Celebration of Life service, and it was so evident to everyone there that the Holy Spirit was moving through them.
Just hours after he just found out his son passed away, my uncle said that his prayer was that Joseph's life and death would lead many to Christ. To a believer, that statement shows strength and a faith that not a lot of Christians even have. An unbeliever, however, may wonder how you could even be thinking about that in a situation like this. This post is to explain why as a follower of Jesus you can find peace and even joy in the midst of the worst pain and sorrow, and it also is meant to honor Joseph.
As my uncle spoke at the Celebration of Life service, he shared the Gospel and Joseph's testimony. He explained that the Holy Spirit will strengthen you in moments that you could never find strength within yourself. I know this to be true because not only have I watched Him do this in the lives of others, I myself have experienced it. These past two weeks I know without a doubt that the Holy Spirit has picked me up and reminded me that the best is yet to come.
You never know when your time to leave this world will be. What you can do though is be ready to go when the time does come. In the human sense, we miss Joseph and are more than saddened that our time with him here is gone. Our stories do not end in sadness though; we are followers of Jesus and Heaven bound. We can find joy within our souls because we know that we will see Joseph again in a place where we will never have to say goodbye ever again.
The question is, is Joseph in Heaven because he was a nice and funny person, a good student, or a good athlete? No (but he was all of those things).
Joseph is in Heaven because he knew Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. I write this post to encourage all of my readers who have never made the decision to follow Jesus to make that decision. While I primarily write Christian-based content, I am not naive enough to think that every single reader I have is saved. You can be though, if you just ask Him.
There are so many misconceptions today about what happens when we die, but really it is simple. Jesus said that He is the way, the truth, and the life. Asking Jesus to save you is how you get to Heaven. I am so thankful that Joseph knew that because I will have eternity to spend more time with my cousin and get to know him more than I did on Earth.
Joseph and I were the same age. We started kindergarten at the same time, graduated high school the same year, and began the journey of college at the same time. We were always told we looked the most alike of all of the cousins. It is difficult to think that we won't be going through the same stages of life at the same time anymore, but I choose to be thankful for the promise that this is not goodbye forever. I will always remember my goofy, one of a kind cousin. We all love you Joseph and will see you in Paradise!
