I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:20-21, NIV).

She was in her 90s, her mind as sharp as mine, her body a bit more fragile.

“You know, I am losing my eyesight,” she stated without any sign of despair.

“I am so sorry,” I responded.

“I’m not worried,” she said. “It’s in the Lord’s hands,” she continued, in no way implying that her sight would be restored.

She shared with me how she had weathered two cancers earlier in life and the loss of her husband 33 decades ago. She neither demonstrated concern, nor sought it from me. She was merely telling the story of a woman who had rested her life in the hands of God and was content to continue to do so.

I hope you have known people like this. Such are the ones Paul described when he wrote, “Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do” (Philippians 3:17, NIV).

Paul wrote these lines just after he had finished writing, “I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead” (Philippians 3:10-11, NIV), that desire leading him to the statement, “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13b-14, NIV).

And so, each of these verses lead through history to the soft and gentle voice of peace from one who spoke to me of her coming blindness. I hope you have known such a one. As Paul says, I need to take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave them.

Dear God,

Thank you for your saints who show me the way.

Amen