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Leave room for God's work, even if there is no evidence of it.

One thing I cling to when my father died is that I couldn't see into his heart and mind. I have no idea what conversations he was holding with God—or what God was whispering to him. In spite of the evidence to the contrary, my dad could very well have made peace with God before he died. I simply don't know. But God does, and that's enough.

Don't think about your loved one being in hell.

Until my father died, I thought of hell as a place for evil people. But my dad was one of the kindest, most generous persons I knew. He acted with integrity and gave everyone around him the benefit of the doubt. The line was so long at his funeral that it wound outside the door, offering evidence of all those he'd touched with his life.

I can't stand to think of my father in hell. I cannot entertain the thought. So I don't. I leave it with God. Because when all is said and done—even though my dad was wise, kind, and good—God is infinitely wiser, kinder, and better than my dad was. I'm banking my whole life on that fact and trusting that God is fair beyond my reasoning. He will never do anything that is unjust.

Don't let this experience stop you from praying for others.

Even though my dad didn't have a confession of faith, others I've prayed for have. When my sister attempted to share Christ with my brother, he politely told her that was nice for her but to leave him alone about it. But I continued to pray for him, and years later he became a Christian when his son died. A local pastor sat with him every day in the hospital, praying with him and assuring him that God was with him. My brother is now a lay pastor who fills the pulpit of many small, rural churches. When I got to hear him preach, tears streamed down my face as I marveled at the fruit of all those prayers I'd prayed.

Two of my friends came to Christ after I prayed for them faithfully. They came to a Bible study I led and were interested, but skeptical. I prayed fervently that they would come to Christ, and they eventually did. One of them said to the other, "Let's give this Christianity thing a go, but let's not go overboard like JoHannah." Both of them entered full-time Christian work a few years later.

So when I think about my dad now, I just miss him. I thank God that he put such a kind and lovely man into my life during my formative years. I'm horribly sad that we could never connect spiritually, but I trust that a good God has guarded my dad's soul in a way that I will never understand until I'm with my heavenly Father when this life is over.

And in the meantime, I keep praying, trusting, obeying, and loving a just, compassionate, and faithful God.

JoHannah Reardon, a pastor's wife, is the managing editor of ChristianBibleStudies.com. She blogs at johannahreardon.com and is the author of seven fictional books and a family devotional guide.

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