A gray, gray day below — And yet
Christ’s hand is reaching down,
Through seas of cloud, through shadows dim,
To draw us upward unto Him,.
Where light and joy abound.
H.E.C.
My Wife in Heaven
By The Editor.
THE greatest earthly sorrow I have ever known has come to me. My beloved wife, who has been given me by God for forty years, has been taken from me. I bow my head before the storm of grief that has swept over me, and I say, “The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” I say it reverently; I say it obediently. How can I question the eternal love? How can I murmur at the dealings of my Lord with me? It must be right. There was a time when the prayers of the Lord’s people arrested the hand of death, and caused the doctors to admit, as one said, that a miracle had been performed, and she came back for awhile to me from the very gates of death. She came down stairs again among us, and mind and body seemed to unite in the joy of returning life. Then the summons came which she had to obey and she passed away to be with Christ.
On June 17th at 2 a.m., I awoke and went in to see my beloved wife. No one thought the end was so near. I told the nurse to go home and rest, and that I would stay and call if anyone were needed. I sat beside the bed, and read passages from the Word of God, and prayed. The gentle breathing spoke of rest, and as no responses came from the closed lips to all my prayers and supplications, I saw that the unconsciousness of the dawning heaven was upon her, and she was being put to sleep by Jesus. I called the rest — my children, her brother, and others. I never saw such a beautiful peace as rested on her face. She never spoke, but lay breathing as a child might breathe―no movement of hand or foot, no disturbance of any kind in the-hallowed’ going to God. So she went from us, and she was not, for God took her. The dawn was coming, it was 4:30, but the day of heavenly glory was shining on her — she was gone from us — “at home with the Lord.” I have seen many pass away from earth, but never one more restfully and peacefully. There was no stirring in death, no clouds about that blessed sunset. “So He giveth His beloved sleep.”
I know in part why she was taken from me — why she was allowed to come back from the gates of death for a while. I shall know all when the perfect love reveals it in heaven. Much has been revealed to me now, all will be known then. She said to me once, in one of our sacred talks together, “I should like to feel that my sufferings (for she suffered much) would be for the blessing of others.” And so they will; her prayers for me, for her children, and others will be answered. More than four score years have passed over my head so we shall not be separated long. The Lord may come at any moment. Then He will bring her with Him, and I shall rise to meet my Lord in the air, and we shall be together again. If not, when my work is done, the home call will come for me.
I am striving to keep at rest about it all. “It is the Lord.” I want to continue my work for God — I ask your prayers that I may be able to do more real heart-work for God than I ever have before. My life seems lonely, but He is all sufficient, and I can say: “Thou remainest” — and although many things seem closed up down here, the heavens are opened, and the Lord is there, and our loved ones are there, and the home is prepared there.
No one can be more thankful than I am for the love that surrounds me in my lonely home, or in the wider circle of the saints of God. How I thank all who have sustained me with their prayers. God bless every one. He will bless you for the loving sympathy you have shown to the most unworthy of His servants. Continue to pray for me, I beseech you.
Yours very affectionately in Christ,
Heyman Wreford.