Trust in God’s Timing
Reject Demonic Trap of Assisted Suicide
After my wife Nell was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, some vaguely hinted at assisted suicide. The terrible disease brought us to a nursing home for the last two years when her care became overwhelming and left her like a child. Unable to talk, walk or even stand. Everyone talked about her smile, radiating the blessing of peace in her heart.
In our fallen world, assisted suicide legislation, framed as Medical Aid in Dying (MAID), is gaining momentum. Currently, 14 states and Washington, D.C. allow patients to request lethal drugs from doctors. In Canada, one in 20 deaths is attributed to euthanasia, more than 60,000 since legalized in 2016. The slippery slope in Canada has transitioned from the terminally ill to those with chronic conditions and proposals to extend to mental illness.
Trials of life teach us to be more like Christ. Through the storm of Alzheimer’s, we were being taught that God is with us in the storms. Our world is quick to discard the gift of life when it is inconvenient, creating a culture of death from babies in the womb to the dying elderly. As in the days of Noah, God must be grieved.
The story of blessings, peace and eternal hope is shared in our book, “Everything Is Going to Be All Right: A Faith Faith Journey Through Alzheimer's”
As believers created in the image of God, God’s Word tells us that life begins at conception and ends on earth when our last breath is drawn. We deny the lie of Satan questioning God’s Word and tempting us to be like god. King Saul disobeyed and walked away from God, ending his kingdom and life. The thought of trying to help God’s timing never entered our minds.
We were proactive to prevent suffering, meeting with an elder care law firm to prepare support strategies including an Advanced Directive for Natural Death and a Do Not Resuscitate order. Wise planning for the trials ahead does not alter God’s timing on our terms. No feeding tubes, for example.
Led closer to Jesus, we learned to trust Him to help carry the burdens. We lived in gratitude for blessings. Many others, including staff and patients in the nursing home, also saw the blessings of peace radiated by her smiles which often broke into laughter. Nell had aphasia in the last stages. She would talk a lot, but words were garbled. Blessed with peace in her heart to the very last breath.
Jesus told us, “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.” (Mark 10:15)
I will never forget the day that Jesus comforted us both while we were listening to Christian music in her room about a year ago. I asked her, “Isn’t going to be amazing when we see Jesus face-to-face?” She leaned forward to look deeply into my eyes. “Everything is going to be all right,” she said. Crystal clear. In a season when words were garbled and incoherent due to aphasia, Nell assured me. Jesus assured us both with peace in the depths of our souls. This moment of clarity gave me the title, beginning, ending and theme of our book.
The blessing also inspired me to begin teaching a Bible study in the nursing home, sharing the Gospel with 30 to 40 patients and staff. Nell would hold my hand during each study and share her smiles. A hospice nurse said Nell was the happiest patient she has ever seen. Another patient nicknamed her “Smiley.”
Excerpt from Everything Is Going to Be All Right: A Faith Journey through Alzheimer’s.
“A faith-filled member of the cleaning crew at the nursing home paused as I walked by a room she was cleaning, wheeling Nell back to her room. “I was just talking about you both with someone,” she said. “If I ever get into a situation like you are in, I told them that I want to be just like you both.”
I shared that the smile on Nell’s face is a gift from God. “It is a gift,” she said. “You have been blessed.” People in the nursing home, staff, and patients have noticed her smile reflecting peace in her heart. Many patients try to comfort me, assuring me that Nell knows I am her husband as she smiles and holds my hand while I lead Bible studies in the nursing home and while we listen to Christian music and classic Church hymns in her room. Her roommate Rosetta, who sang in her church choir and grew up in a family of singers, sings along.
People passing by in the hallway often comment on the music and singing. God is glorified. With the blessings of strength as He guides us through the storm, with His rod and staff, peace beyond understanding in her smile, and living water of joy in her laughter, we will overcome the storm of Alzheimer’s. Everything is going to be all right.
For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. (1 John 5:4)”
God’s timing is amazing. His timing brought us together in marriage 33 years ago, the blessing of a son and grandson. His rod and staff guided us along the journey through Alzheimer’s. Our book was published the same day she was called home to see Jesus as I held her hand when she took her last breath. I continue to teach the Bible study in the nursing home and look forward to seeing Nell smiling and laughing in heaven, completely healed.