A good friend died yesterday. John lived to the ripe old age of 89, a faithful example of Christianity to his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and all the rest of us. Although he was involved in the church in unnumbered ways, what I loved most about John was the way he frequently turned up in the middle of a crisis.

For example, he arrived at exactly the right moment to visit my dad in the hospital. None of us knew Dad was going to die that afternoon, but John’s presence stabilized this very emotional experience for my sister, brother and I. His prayer immediately after Dad’s passing is one I will never forget. This was John, always on hand to help with the needs of others.

Yesterday, I missed a call from John’s daughter Connie. Her message told of his death, which we’d known was coming soon. When I pushed the “redial” button, I thought I’d reach Connie’s cell but instead was ringing John’s home. But by this time, his apartment was empty, and I got his answering machine.

When I heard the just-deceased John’s strong voice come on the recording, I burst into tears:

“ I’m not able to come to the phone at this time…”

That sentence tore into my heart with its truth, reminding me again of the wrenching separation death creates between us and the ones we love. Death was Satan’s idea, and by our sin we fell into it.

I think often of the permanency of death’s separation, not throughout eternity but definitely in this life. The deceased are completely unreachable. This might be the core reason we grieve. As I’ve often said about Nate, if I knew I could have a few minutes with him, it’d be something to eagerly anticipate, to enjoy as it happened, and to savor afterwards. A mini-visit, even once a year, would mean so much.

But God has constructed a tantalizing plan whereby we can reconnect with our loved ones. There’s only one difficult hurdle: wait-time. The reunions of our dreams will occur with certainty, but they’ll be on God’s timetable, not ours.

I will be with Nate, and Connie will be with John, but that’ll be just the beginning. Reunions from all human history will happen, beyond our wildest imaginations. We’ll be on talking terms with Adam and Eve, Moses, Noah, Samuel, Jesus’ disciples, Paul and thousands of others.

But best of all, we’ll be in a face-to-face, one-on-one with Jesus Christ, who will be facilitating all the other get-togethers. We know it’ll be beyond our wildest imaginations, because the Bible says exactly that; if we can imagine it, that isn’t it.

The challenge is waiting with grace, staying involved in life until our number of days is completed, and looking forward to those phenomenal meetings with hope.

After that, no answering machine will have the power to make us cry.

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9)