The Enduring Word of the Lord

By Elizabeth Gunther

This story of God's enduring Word initially appeared as a Tenth Press article July 30, 2006.

On a Sunday morning in May, I was reminded of the many ways God has spoken to me through his Word. In that morning’s sermon Dr. Ryken quoted the verse which the children memorize in Bible school, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.” Twenty years ago my son Karl also learned that verse in the Bible school. In fact, he made a plaque in Bible school one Sunday on which he wrote the words “The word of the Lord endures forever” and then drew some flowers. That plaque has hung above my washing machine all these years since.

In the late 1980’s, my 80-year-old father began to decline physically and mentally, developing dementia much like Alzheimer’s disease. He spoke at times like a very young child. He couldn’t remember people or things. The dog and I got new names. I was Gretel. It was painful to watch and experience Dad’s decline as the family cared for him during the last two or three years of his life on this earth. But again and again, the verse on the plaque came to my mind. “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” This promise brought me comfort and hope.

Our heavenly Father took my father home one night in early November 1991. Early the next morning my mother called to tell me. As I looked out the window, I saw that the flowers in my garden had also died that night in the first frost of the season, the frost gardeners call a “killer frost.” Immediately I knew in my heart that God had chosen that particular night for my sake. It was God’s very personal sign for me to assure me that although we will all die, his word endures forever and we have a sure hope in the resurrection.

Yes, God’s promises are true. Even creation testifies to this. In the same sermon, Dr. Ryken spoke of the sprouting fig tree, in Luke 21. Noah was given a rainbow. And for me there’s the killer frost. I enjoy tending our vegetable and flower garden from year to year. I enjoy seeing the plants sprout. I pray for God to send rain. I’m grateful for the harvest and the beautiful flowers. And I watch for that killer frost at the end of the growing season. It’s a reminder that the end is near. But we don’t sorrow as those without hope. The word of the Lord endures forever.

Every Sunday morning we recite the Apostle’s Creed. When we finish with “the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting,” I think of my father and mother. In February 2005 God took my mother home, too, at age 95. In her later years, my mother told me many times about the inscription on the cemetery gate in her home town in Germany—”Wer glaubt, wird leben, obwohl er gleich stirbt.” (“He who believes in me will live, even though he dies” John 11:25). Can you imagine my astonishment and excitement Easter morning 2005, when I realized that Dr. Ryken had chosen this very text to preach from? God had meant it especially for me! Not only is God’s Word enduring, it is living and active.

I am thankful to God for the various and mysterious ways he has used to strengthen and encourage my faith through his living, active, and enduring Word.