No Guarantee

James 4:14

Whereas ye know not, what shall be on the morrow.
For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that 
appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.

   I do want to take this opportunity to apologize to all of you for not updating the blog the past few days. As most of you know, I had a very good friend who was in the hospital on life support last week after having a major heart attack. She passed away yesterday (November 25th) after she was removed from life support a day earlier. Instead of doing a prophecy update tonight, I am hoping you won't mind if I blog about what the Lord Jesus is speaking to my heart right now as I grieve Carol's death. I will get back to the regular blog tomorrow. Just afford me this opportunity to speak from a heart that hurts right now.

   Carol was one of the best friends anyone could ask for. She was blunt, even blunt to the point of hurting your feelings. She was an Italian spitfire if I had ever seen one. She was crazy. Not crazy in a bad way, but crazy in a funny way. She once had a kitten that my kids had given to her. She put flea powder on this kitten and he was way too young for flea powder. He was a sick kitten for awhile, but pulled through. But after that, he always ran sideways. So Carol named him Sidewhinder. LOL Carol owned the first chow chows that I had ever seen. And it was her chows that made me fall in love with, and respect the breed. Since then, I have owned and loved 3 chow chows. Everytime I look at my third chow, Tai, I will remember Carol and thank her for introducing me to her Maggie and Alf. She hated the smell of sour apple gum and any time any of the kids had it in their mouths, she made them go out on her front porch and sit and chew it so she wouldn't have to smell it. As my daughter Ashley and I were leaving the hospital last Friday, we were talking about the sour apple gum. Ashley said "You know Mom, Carol always made us go sit out on her front porch while we chewed the gum so she wouldn't have to smell it, but then she always came outside with us." :) But even through all the craziness, she was fiercely loyal... as a wife, as a mother, as a grandmother and as a friend. 

   I knew Carol for 27+ years. And I have to admit, the majority of that time was when I was away from the Lord as a "prodigal". Needless to say, I am not proud of that. And over this past week and a half, the enemy has really used that to heap guilt on my head. But as another friend of mine reminded me, I wasn't always a prodigal and Carol had heard about Jesus from me, more than once.

   I don't know whether or not Carol accepted the Lord. But through all of this, I have learned a very valuable lesson. There is a reason why Jesus says we are to be a light to those who are living in darkness. Too many people talk the talk, but don't walk the walk. We never know if we are the last person someone who isn't saved talks to before they die. We here in the U.S. are very, very fortunate in that we typically get more than one chance to hear the gospel and accept the Lord Jesus as Savior. But we need to take every advantage God presents us with to share the gospel. Jesus tells us in John 4:37 that one sows and another reaps. We don't always know which we are doing, but one is every bit as important as the other. What good is it to have the word of the living God living in us, if we aren't willing to share it? What good is sharing the gospel, if we aren't willing to reap the harvest? I know there are plenty of us who have said "I just want to hear the words well done good and faithful servant when I get to heaven". I have said it myself. But you know, the thing that should really be motivating us to do the works that He has commanded us to do is not hearing "Well done thou good and faithful servant" but seeing someone in heaven who has heard the Word of God from us and will live eternally because we were obedient to what the Lord Jesus commanded us to do.

   Romans 8:28 ~ And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. I don't know where my friend will be spending eternity for sure. But one thing I do know is this, I will never live with the guilt of wondering again, whether I did my job or not.

Proverbs 11:30

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life,

And he who winneth souls is wise.

Until next time!
~Nancy

Carol Louise Epperson
February 11, 1948 - November 25, 2012