Foundations (In Loving Memory of Esther Viola)

 

Psalms 116:15

Precious in the sight of the LORD

is the death of his saints.

Like Barnabas, Esther's husband Nick Viola has been a much needed friend and an encourager to me. We met when he moved in next door and a 100' pine tree fell and missed his house by ten feet. I watched it fall then walked over and we met. I could tell he wasn't from around this neck of the woods of Georgia. Nick was born in Italy and his family moved to New York when he was younger. 

At the time we met, my father was alive and had dementia. He lived with us for several years as we helped him through it until it was more than we were capable of. We had to put Dad in a home. Nick was battling the same thing with Esther. Oddly enough my wife Stacy and Nick are from the same county in upstate New York. They discuss old landmarks and places familiar to them. Nick and I have very similar ministry experiences. Nick is about 20 years older than I and the Lord new I could use his wisdom. God Himself put us together. There is just too many similarities to deny it and we needed each other.

There was a time recently when I desperately needed discernment on a shift God was directing us to follow Him on. Nick was a crucial part of how God spoke to me. God speaks through His people. I am so thankful for the faithfulness of God to give us what we need when we need it.

God has been laying foundations since the beginning of time. His foundations are as pure as sapphires. He uses His people to also lay foundations—foundations that lead others to Himself. He is the ultimate embodiment of love. Esther was laid to rest on Valentines Day. No doubt just another detail the Lord is in control of. 

Esther had the most loving and gracious tone in her voice. You could tell she loved God's people and her family. I didn't know Esther long but what stands out to me when I think of her is the love of God. She loved to sing and did so in places of worship all over the U.S. She recently sang in iHop.

I was asked to speak at her funeral and the morning of her funeral the Lord impressed upon me the word, foundation. We are all laying a foundation for something. For self, for others, or for God.

Isaiah 54:11

"And lay thy foundations with sapphires." 

It seems Esther laid foundations for God so that others could reach Him. Life often will send special moments your way to remind you that it is brief.

James 4:14

Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.

We think of the glory of heaven with its streets of gold and gates of pearl. Esther is experiencing the glory of heaven today. Charles Spurgeon wrote about the foundations of sapphires,

Not only that which is seen of the church of God, but that which is unseen, is fair and precious. Foundations are out of sight, and so long as they are firm it is not expected that they should be valuable; but in Jehovah's work everything is of a piece, nothing slurred, nothing mean. The deep foundations of the work of grace are as sapphires for preciousness, no human mind is able to measure their glory. We build upon the covenant of grace, which is firmer than adamant, and as enduring as jewels upon which age spends itself in vain. Sapphire foundations are eternal, and the covenant abides throughout the lifetime of the Almighty. Another foundation is the person of the Lord Jesus, which is clear and spotless, everlasting and beautiful as the sapphire; blending in one the deep blue of earth's ever rolling ocean and the azure of its all embracing sky. Once might our Lord have been likened to the ruby as he stood covered with his own blood, but now we see him radiant with the soft blue of love, love abounding, deep, eternal. Our eternal hopes are built upon the justice and the faithfulness of God, which are clear and cloudless as the sapphire. We are not saved by a compromise, by mercy defeating justice, or law suspending its operations; no, we defy the eagle's eye to detect a flaw in the groundwork of our confidence—our foundation is of sapphire, and will endure the fire. The Lord himself has laid the foundation of his people's hopes. It is matter for grave enquiry whether our hopes are built upon such a basis. Good works and ceremonies are not a foundation of sapphires, but of wood, hay, and stubble; neither are they laid by God, but by our own conceit. Foundations will all be tried ere long: woe unto him whose lofty tower shall come down with a crash, because based on a quicksand. He who is built on sapphires may await storm or fire with equanimity, for he shall abide the test. 

 John 14:1-7 Jesus said I go to prepare a place for you. He laid a foundation for us through His people and we are saved because of that foundation. 

The Lord Jesus had an impact on Esther and she had an impact on us. Let us not get so caught up with ourselves that we forget this life is temporary. It is the next life that we live for today.

Luke 6:46-49 (NASB)

Builders and Foundations

“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”

Prayer - Lord please let this day renew in us a thirst for Your word and a desire to live it so that we can be used by you to lay Your foundations. Thank you for Esther and her family and how they have served you. Thank you for the comfort and peace you have provided at this time. We love you Lord. Let us show it by how we obey you.

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Scripture referenced or quoted from Esther's home-going celebration:

1 Thessalonians 4:18 (NASB)
2 Corinthians 1:3-5 (NASB)
1 Corinthians 2:9 (NASB)
Ecclesiastes 7:1 (NASB)
John 14:1-3 (ESV)
John 14:16-17 (NASB)
John 14:27 (NASB)
Colossians 3:2 (NASB)
John 14:15-27 (ESV)
Isaiah 55:8-9 (NASB)
Jeremiah 6:14 (NASB)
John 14:1-7 (NASB)