About twenty-five years ago, doctors discovered a massive tumor growing on my mother’s liver. They looked at the X-rays, shook their heads, and said, “There is nothing we can do. All we can give you is pain killers.” Despite the diagnosis, Mom remained at peace with the Lord. She knew that a glorious future awaited her in heaven.

As she neared the end, I remember thinking, Soon, I will fly to Orange County, California. A casket will lie in front of us, and we’ll bury it in the Southern California dirt. But we will not be burying my mom. We will bury her body, her temporary home. By the time I get there, my mother will be with Jesus. And she will be happy and whole.

At her funeral on December 27, 1993, I told the mourners that I had spoken with my mom shortly before she died. She could hardly talk, but she managed to say how much she loved the Lord and how assured she was of eternal life. She knew at the moment she stopped breathing here on earth, she would be welcomed to her heavenly home.

As I deal with my own medical diagnosis, I can understand the hope she expressed. The reason we have hope, the reason we do not despair no matter what comes, is that God has given us “hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure” (Heb. 6:19). What a glorious hope! Let us live in that hope and share it with those around us, for the sake of this world and eternity.              

This is Luis Palau.