The Right Answer

We can make our own plans, but the LORD gives the right answer. [Proverbs 16.1] 

As I ponder this verse today, I will be speaking at the graveside service of a departed loved one. Yes, I have thoughts about what I will say... but what does God want said?

It never ceases to amaze me how God's Word speaks to my life if I am listening!

We can make our own plans, but the LORD gives the right answer. [Proverbs 16.1] 

Besides Proverbs 16.1, I found this verse from Proverbs 15 that was just as applicable to me today:

Everyone enjoys a fitting reply; it is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time! [Proverbs 15.23]

I think no one on earth wants to say the right thing at the right time more than me. I only pray my motivation to do so is just as right! However, as I looked further back in Proverbs 15 today, I found this sobering verse:

The lips of the wise give good advice; the heart of a fool has none to give. [Proverbs 15.7] 

 Are you kidding me? How does God do that? How does He align the date of a graveside service where I will be speaking with a totally unrelated Bible reading that is based purely upon a one-year reading plan? How could it be so appropriate?

Well, for starters, God is a Good Father. And like any good parent, He knows me better than I know myself. So, as I consider what I am to say today, it seems that first, I should understand my Father's heart:

The LORD is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him. For he knows how weak we are; he remembers we are only dust. Our days on earth are like grass; like wildflowers, we bloom and die. The wind blows, and we are gone— as though we had never been here. But the love of the LORD remains forever with those who fear him. [Psalm 103.13-17]

As my eyes opened in the early morning hours of this day, these words began to develop in me before my feet touched the floor:

As we return these ashes - to the earth from whence they came,

We know that our own lives - will never be the same.

The departure of a loved one - always breaks our heart,

And in that bit of pain - inward thoughts, they start.

The body is a container, and time is a span,

For every soul created to learn about God’s plan.

So, let us find that joy - through the tears and through the pain,

In the passing of this loved one - why our lives remain.

There is a God in heaven - and love us, He does so,

To give these precious moments - before we too must go.

The body is a container, and time is just a span,

For every soul created to learn about God’s plan.

Yes, the body is just a container, and time is indeed just a span,

For every soul created to learn the Good News - the Gospel of Jesus Christ - God’s plan.

The most powerful thing that can be said at this graveside service today then is that, if Jesus delays His Return, I too must face the same fate. In mindfulness of this fact, the following prayer from the Psalms seems a fitting close:

“LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.” [Psalm 39.4-5]