Job had a hope that was secure. He knew his Redeemer. He trusted God even during serious, painful skin problems. Mom also had a hope and she had a special relationship with Job. She often had more than her share of physical and family suffering or sorrow. She often told the story that, as an infant, her father attempted to blind her by putting iodine in her eyes. She had a weak heart and frail body, but she knew she would live until God said it was time for her to come Home.

She often quoted this verse: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!” – Job 19:25-27 (ESV)

Mom did not believe everything she heard. But when she heard something, she usually had questions. Before she earned her high school diploma, as an adult, she took a class at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois. The class she took covered the Old Testament book Job. When the study came to Job 19, mom’s interest was piqued. “Who is the Redeemer?” “Can I see God?”

At that point in her spiritual journey mom was a good mother and wife. We attended church faithfully every Sunday. Our church was “Evangelical United Brethren Church.” It has a different name today. Sadly, the church didn’t and doesn’t proclaim the gospel. Mom wanted to have a redeemer and her life was transformed when she heard the gospel. She did not hear the good news in college or at church. But when she did hear it, she received it with joy.

The church you pick for worship and to hear the word of God preached matters deeply. If a church waffles on “thus says the Lord” or neglects the gospel, then you ought to be concerned. Mom always wanted people to know her Redeemer, and she taught a Bible study in her apartment to help others see the Savior. Now her eyes behold her God. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Redeemer.

“Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. ” – 2 Corinthians 5:8 (ESV)

North Central College: https://www.northcentralcollege.edu/