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Our Last Test
Thinking about Gabriel this morning and my own eternity … We had a lesson recently on last words and how important they are. The Lord’s last words for us were for unity in Him. It was a last plea, before he was taken to be crucified. I couldn’t help but think about last words and last choices before meeting God – a how very important they are.
That turned my thoughts to my son Gabriel, who I lost at the age of 16 in a car accident. On the Saturday before his accident, I allowed him to go midnight bowling with a group of friends from school. I usually didn’t want my boys out after midnight but made an exception that evening. It was a public gathering with kids whose parents I knew, so I thought it would be fairly safe.
When he arrived home he thanked me for waiting up on him. He stood there, shuffled around a bit like he was troubled, so I asked him what was wrong. He said, “Mom, they were all drinking.” These kids were all his peers, all age 15 and 16!
I wanted him to feel free to open up to me if he needed to confess something himself or just needed to share what was troubling him, so I paused and then asked him if he had joined them. He reacted swiftly and said, “No Mom, I told those boys they were going to make fools out of themselves.” With that said, I told him I was proud of him for standing up for his convictions; that it wasn’t easy to do that in a crowd. He said, “Thanks, Mom” and gave me a kiss before going to bed.
That following Tuesday morning Gabriel and his younger brother, Nathanael, were almost to school when he crossed the yellow line – a mere 15 inches – and met an oncoming car. They collided. Gabriel was killed instantly. Nathanael was severely injured and airlifted to Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
That following Thursday at his funeral, the kids that had been with Gabriel at the bowling alley confessed that they’d made fun of him for not joining them – even one whom Gabriel had tried to help who had developed an alcohol addiction. They told me that they had all written notes of apology to put in his casket. I didn’t have the heart to read them. They also told me that Gabriel didn’t just talk his faith in God, that he lived it. How comforting that was.
I think about that often, and two things come to mind.
First, Gabriel never knew that standing up that night would make such a difference with his friends. It always makes a difference when standing for the right thing, even if you can’t see it in that moment.
Second, and most important, I think maybe this was Gabriel’s last test for who he truly served. Satan wants each of us; God wants each of us. We get to choose – every day, every moment – who we will follow and serve.
We declare that in:
Our words: “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned” (Mt 12:36-37). Heaven is watching … everything.
Our actions: Moment by moment declares who we serve. If you want a heart check moment read Galatians 5 which describes followers of Satan vs. followers God.
I believe that weekend was a last test for Gabriel, and it had eternal consequences. What will be my last test … my last words … my last actions before I meet God?
Gabriel sure didn’t know he would meet God that fateful Tuesday morning, and I don’t know what day that will be for me either. I know that in 2021 I had two near death experiences and my diagnosis is still pretty grim. Truth is, I have a death problem and I’m getting closer each day to my eternity. “Seeing that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy conversation and godliness” (2 Pet 3:10-11).
Choices I make every day have eternal consequences. Even my thoughts are to be controlled by God. That’s really heavy. I’m so close and I don’t want to go left or right off that path of seeing the Lord and my precious loved ones again and spending eternity in the light of God’s love.
My all-time favorite verse is 1 Th 4:16-18: “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”
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Comment: In 2012 David Lanphear and Wilson Adams conducted a weekend series for us at Centreville. Their wives, Debbie Lanphear and Julie Adams, taught class for the ladies on Saturday. David and Wilson are co-authors of the book, A Life Lost … and Found: A Journey of Hope and Healing through Tragedy. In that book, Wilson discusses his pain of a failed marriage, and David relates the death of his own son in a car wreck as well as the death of his wife following a heart attack five years later.
Debbie Lanphear’s first husband had been physically abusive and had publicly flaunted an adulterous relationship. Without warning he packed his things and left her and their three boys just nine months before Gabriel’s death. Debbie, like David whom she later married, suffered two terrible tragedies in a short span of time.
Life is uncertain though it bears the illusion of invincibility. Tragedy, it seems, always happens to other people. But intellectually, we know this is not true. Any one of us at any time can be called away from this world or lose our loved ones. How will you handle today’s challenges? They could be your last test.
