Enter God's Rest

Yesterday we went to my grandmother’s funeral; today the kids have gone back to school (except the Vomiting One), and English classes started again (without me). It was the end of the holidays, and the end of an era. My grandmother, who died just shy of her 98th birthday, was a remarkable woman whose life was a testimony to God’s grace. Having attended church for most of her life, she became a Christian at about 50, when she really understood the death and resurrection of Jesus for the first time. For the rest of her life, she was a passionate supporter of clear gospel preaching, and the teaching and training of others. She reached out to those around her with the good news that had transformed her life. She prayed faithfully for her family and for gospel ministry all over the world. She kept up with and prayed for and supported the various ministries of PY, and more recently the Timothy Partnership. For the last 18 months she lived nearer to me than she had for more than 35 years, and I am really thankful for the time I was able to spend with her, and the opportunity to be encouraged by her ongoing faithfulness and prayerfulness and the way in which she continued to be challenged and encouraged by God’s word. She could no longer see well enough to read, which was a source of great frustration for her, but it did mean that we (mainly my mum, but also my sister and I, and others) benefited enormously from being able to read and share the Bible and other Christian books with her.
Since the week before Easter we’ve had two family funerals, an almost-family engagement, several birthdays, and who knows how many sleepovers. I’ve been very grateful for the flexibility of online study (which is another way of saying I haven’t done a thing!) There has been sadness and celebrating. But as I look back over the last few weeks, each event (except possibly the sleepovers) has been characterised by seeing God faithfully at work in each one’s life, rejoicing in his goodness to us, and the certain hope of the promised rest at the end.
So now I really do have to write the essay on Numbers. And I think that what it’s about is God faithfully at work in his people, and the promised rest at the end.