Little Will - Safe in the Arms of Jesus

Today, Friday the 13th, was a sad day for me. I attended little Will Steven's funeral.
Little Will who had smiled and laughed at his dad and his mom, is no longer here on this earth to share his joy with his parents anymore. His little life snuffed out by the hands of his mother. We will never understand completely God's Sovereign will in these things but we can understand, that He - God is a good God, pure and holy. We can understand that for whatever reasons he allows evil to continue until Jesus comes, there is coming a day when this world, and it's fallen creatures will be restored to the glory and image of the intentions God as always had for man and His creation.
We ask why? I asked why? I asked this question a thousand times over after my wife's own tragic death. Why God?
God doesn't grow angry at our grief, he wants to share in it as much as he does our joy.
I think the message for all of us, is that we must remember and look beyond the darkness of this world to the day of resurrection. As the disciples mourned, and their fears overwhelmed them at the imprisonment of their king, as never before, Peter had to come to grips with his own flesh, his own self protectionism and fears. The disciples saw the evil of kingdoms and their men while they watched the one they loved so dearly, be beaten and scourged, tantalized and scoffed at, a cruel crown of thorns put upon his head. This done, by mere men who claimed to be leaders, political rulers and yet even religious leaders, who had stood in the synagogues on the Sabbath each week proclaiming Jehovah. Yet, here at their very own hands they were crucifying the one they claimed they loved.
The awful truth about all this though is where they stood in their hatred and their disdain for the Son of God, we stood, we were right there driving the nails through His flesh, His hands, His feet.
There we stood as His enemies.
Yet, in that moment before the cruel and senseless death he died, He, Jesus, cried out "Father forgive them for they know not what they do".
On that day when Mary Magdalene came to tell the other disciples not to despair for He had risen. I am sure much like us in our grief they must have been angry. They must have thought Mary, don't toy with our emotions. How can he be alive? We saw him, die, we saw him bleed, we heard that last agonizal breath he took, we saw the sword thrust into His side and the blood and water rush forth as his heart sack was ruptured open. We saw Him laid into the grave,we saw Him wrapped in cloth and the spices put on his body. Why, Mary do you play with our emotions? Yet, when they saw Jesus standing there, showing his nail scarred hands and feet and the scar in His side- Resurrection burst forth in their deepest emotions. They knew then, that death was not the final resting place for mankind, that Jesus had overcome both sin and death. It was Resurrection Day. It was no longer a feeling of hopelessness, but one of joy and anticipation for such a day to come for them as well.

Little Will, if he were to speak to us today, though a two year old child, he would remind us, that He forgives his Mommy, he loved her anyway.
He laughed when she held him, he cooed in her arms at one time, he played with his mommy, until that one fateful day.

Little Will is with Jesus now and he has to no longer fear this world we live in of fallen creation and it's fallen creatures. For you see, just as the disciples had lost hope and as we read the news around us, and we too often lose hope, the resurrection is just on the other side of that "curtain of death".
The darkness breaks forth into glorious light and the sense of absolute love untarnished by flesh and sin surrounds little Will now. It will someday surround us as well, if we have hope, hope for the Resurrection.
For time has no effect on our Creator, He is beyond time, He is the author of time, and for little Will Stevens, there will be no time- just eternity in the presence of the Lord.
He will no longer cry for food when hungry, for he will have the food and drink that satisfies for eternity - Jesus Christ at his side.
This is our only hope, for if Jesus was not raised from the dead, then our faith is useless are lives hold no meaning at all. There is no ground for hope, without the Resurrection. The hope we have is now the reality for little Will Stevens as he rest now, "Safe in the Arms of Jesus".
A young lady at the funeral today sang that song, a variation of it at least, and it reminded me too, that my Patti that I lost to a freak accident, to a wandering horse that had escaped it's fencing, that ended up in the middle of an Interstate in the early morning hours that we struck with our car just before daybreak, she too is there now, "Safe in the Arms of Jesus".
If the Resurrection to life eternal in the presence of Love unending and never failing, is not our desire above all things, then we have lost touch with God.
For in this world, we must recall the words of Jesus who said, "in this world you will have much tribulation but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.' This is our call, this is our mission, that in this life we live that we always be looking forward to that day, when the light will break forth dispelling the darkness and we too will be surrounded completely in God's love. For God is love.
I would like to quote those words so well written by a physically blind hymn writer Fanny Crosby, who lived her life never seeing the light of of day, yet in her spirit she saw more light than most of us could ever imagine with our own eyes that do see.

"Safe in the arms of Jesus,
Safe on his gentle breast
There by his love o'ershaded
Sweetly my soul shall rest.
Hark! tis the voice of angels,
Borne in a song to me.
Over the fields of glory
Over the jasper sea.

Safe in the arms of Jesus
Safe on His gentle breast
There by His love o'ershaded
Sweetly my soul shall rest.

Safe in the arms of Jesus,
Safe from corroding care
Safe from the world's temptaions
Sin cannot harm me there.
Free from the blight of sorrow
Free from my doubts and fears
Only a few more trials
Only a few more tears

Jesus my heart's dear refuge
Jesus has died for me
Firm on the Rock of Ages
Ever my trust shall be
Here let me wait with patience
Wait till the night is o'er.
Wait till I see the morning
Break on the golden shore.

One last scripture before I close.
"For we know that if the earthly tent we live is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens" 2 Corinthians 5:1

Little Will, my friend Mickey's little boy, Patti Black, my former wife of just near 27 years and many more that we have loved and that have passed on beyond these unsafe shores are now "Safe in the Arms of Jesus"

Dr. J.