God Knows

Psalm 116:15 "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints."

I read this morning about the death of a lady that I had the pleasure of knowing, and serving as her pastor. Mrs Hazel Ward died last week and was buried on Sunday. I doubt very seriously if many folks outside of tiny Northampton County, NC - in particular the communities of Woodland and George - would have even have known Hazel.

She was the mother of one daughter - Pam - who passed away as a young woman. Later Hazel laid her husband, Jules, to rest. She had worked in a casket-making plant for years and retired. She lived alone. She lived quietly. She lived faithfully.

Hazel came to church with a faithfulness that any pastor would appreciate. She came, she sang in the choir, she read and studied her Bible. She didn't make waves. She didn't gossip, or run people in the ground. She did, however, speak the truth, and was not afraid to do so.

She suffered a stroke, a debilitating one, and had to leave her home and go to a facility. She died there. There was not any coverage on TV of this event. I didn't read it in the New York Times or even the Raleigh News & Observer. It didn't make it on Twitter or Facebook that I know about.

But this saint, when she breathed her last was welcomed into heaven and into the presence of the Almighty God and her Savior the Lord Jesus Christ.

You didn't know her. The world didn't know her. But God did, and her death was precious in His sight.

Thank You, father, for the life of Hazel Ward. Thank you for her smile and laugh. Thank you Lord for her faithfulness to You. Thank You, Father, that she was precious to You.