A Tribute to Jim Maher
“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” (Psalm 116:15 NIV)
Late last Friday, March 11, 2011, we got word that Jim Maher, an amazing man of God and friend of our Bridgewood church family was killed in a motorcycle accident. As a leader from the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, Jim was a member of our church advisory board and frequent minister in our midst. The news of Jim’s death hit those of us who knew him very hard. We grieve and pray for his wife Elizabeth, their children, grandchildren and extended family.
The verse above from Psalm 116 offers us a viewpoint of death that is both unusual and insightful. We are told by the psalmist that the death of a godly man or woman is something God regards as precious. In fact, the Hebrew word from which precious comes is also translated splendid or weighty. However, an untimely death like Jim’s is not something we would consider precious. To the contrary, at least from our vantage point, such a death seems to be the very opposite, a senseless waste. And it can engender an almost endless string of unanswered questions spinning uncontrollably from the central question “Why?”
So there you have it – two perspectives, one from heaven’s eyes and one from human eyes. Seeking to see things from God’s perspective lifts us into to realm of eternity and frees us from the limitations of human perception and rationale.
So how could Jim’s home going be precious to God and thereby also precious to us?