‘I Will Never See Her Again!’
Many people believe they will be forever separated from their loved ones after death. Is this true? It could be. But it doesn’t have to be.
My wife’s cousin Peggy was a cherished member of our family and a dear friend. As Peggy approached her senior years, she determined to live her life guided by Psalm 92:14: “They shall still bear fruit in old age; they shall be fresh and flourishing.” She underlined the verse in her Bible and wrote in the margin, “Promise for old age” and “quality of life.”
Peggy was born in Africa, where her parents were pioneer missionaries who served in the bush. Her childhood was filled with hardships; but through it all, her love for the Lord Jesus and the Good News of the gospel were always close to her heart.
She had invested her life in her relatives and her church family; and, as a daughter of missionaries, she cared deeply for evangelism when she moved to the United States. So, when a woman named Jenny and her young daughter moved into the house next to hers, she believed the Lord put them there for a reason. They quickly connected and built a strong friendship even though Jenny was much younger and not a believer in Jesus.
Occasionally, Jenny and her daughter accepted Peggy’s invitation to attend church with her. Peggy prayed earnestly for them and always looked for opportunities to share the gospel.
As the years passed, it became clear that Peggy needed to move into an assisted-living facility. Eventually, her health deteriorated to the point that she needed hospice care. Yet, Peggy and Jenny’s friendship never weakened; and Jenny and her daughter visited their friend often.
When Peggy passed away last summer, her son called Jenny to tell her. Upon hearing the news, Jenny cried out, “My God! I will never see her again.”
Peggy’s son knew differently. He lovingly told her, “But there is a way that you could see Peggy again.”
Peggy knew the only way people can see their loved ones after death. Fortunately, her son knew the way, too; and he shared with Jenny what God’s Word says about life after death for believers in Jesus.
For days after Peggy’s son told me about this interaction, Jenny’s cry reverberated in my mind. Her lament that she would never see Peggy again is morose, filled with pathos; and it grips the soul. Is it true? It could be. But it doesn’t have to be.
When I accepted Peggy’s family’s request to officiate at her memorial service, I considered what I could share with those who came to remember her. I decided to ask the mourners, “Now that she is gone, if Peggy could talk to you today, what would she want you to know?”
Here are four things I believe she would say to her loved ones.
1. “Don’t feel sad for me. Rejoice with me.”
Peggy is now in the presence of the Lord her Savior. She is also with her parents, her two sisters, her brother, and her husband, all of whom trusted in Jesus as their Savior. They knew, as she knew, that “to be absent from the body [is] to be present with the Lord” (2 Cor. 5:8).
Jesus promised to prepare this place for her when He said,
Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also (Jn. 14:1–3).
2. “Jesus was with me the whole way, and now I am with Him.”
Peggy lived confidently with the truth of Psalm 23:4 in her heart: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me.” She also cherished the words of Psalm 16:5–11:
O LORD, you are the portion of my inheritance and my cup; You maintain my lot. The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places; yes, I have a good inheritance. I will bless the LORD who has given me counsel; my heart also instructs me in the night seasons. I have set the LORD always before me; because He is at my right hand I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoices; my flesh also will rest in hope. For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption. You will show me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
Peggy fixed her heart on the Lord while she lived and eagerly awaited entering His presence upon her death. That is why she wrote “during life” (vv. 5–9) and “after death” (vv. 10–11) in the margin of her Bible alongside this passage.
3. “There is a future hope for those who believe.”
Peggy had the cure to Jenny’s heartsickness when her friend said, “My God! I will never see her again.” She echoed the apostle Paul when he addressed the believers of the church in Thessalonica, who were similarly concerned:
I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus (1 Th. 4:13–14).
This truth turns sorrow over death into joy—a deep, lasting joy that Peggy wanted Jenny to experience.
4. “Here’s what you need to do in order to see me.”
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31)—and do it now! “Now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2). Peggy had no greater desire than to share this truth with others.
I closed my message at the funeral service by saying, “Peggy would love to see all of you again, and she knew the only way to do that is to believe the Good News of Jesus Christ. Jesus said it Himself: ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me’” (Jn. 14:6). I hope Jenny and her daughter take this Good News to heart so they can see their friend again in heaven.
If you have never received Jesus as your Savior, please pay attention to Peggy’s life and legacy and believe as she did. Receive Him as your Savior as she did so many years ago. Trust Him and only Him for your eternity. And if you already have made Him the Lord of your life, take the time to thank and bless God for His mercy in opening your eyes to the most wonderful message in the world: that Jesus Christ came “to seek and to save that which was lost” (Lk. 19:10). He is the only way for us to see one another after death.
I look forward to seeing Peggy again in heaven. I hope to see you there too.
