I Know Who Holds Tomorrow

In April of 1993 my grandmother was reflecting on her cancer operation from a year before. She noted that all reports were good, and then she wrote, “I don’t know about tomorrow, I just live from day to day… but I know who holds tomorrow. And I know He holds my hand.”* The next month she passed away.

Her death was unexpected and took all of us by surprise. But it wasn’t a surprise to God. This had been the plan all along. And when His work in her was complete and her race finished, He—who had always had her firmly by the hand—gently ushered her into glory. And there she finally grasped what she had previously believed: that death is gain (Philippians 1:21). Faith gave way to sight, and she found herself then—as now—more alive than ever.

Over the last few days I’ve been thinking about the words of that old hymn. None of us knows about tomorrow. But we do know Who holds it. We know what He is like. We know He is good and wise and kind. More than that, we know He is love. We know what He has done at Calvary and that there is nothing left to be done. We know the promises for today and the promises for eternity. And we know who (and what) He is to us. For Jesus is our Jesus. He is our Saviour, our Friend, our Sun and Shield (Psalm 84:11), our Treasure (Matthew 13:44).

So as I think about tomorrow, I feel full. I know I am rich. I don’t know about tomorrow, but I do know Jesus is there. He is already there, and He will be there. When I wake, when I sleep, and when I die, He will be there.  That is the promise.  That He will always always be with us (Hebrews 13:5).  

And then what? For you and for me, it’s the same glorious hope: that one day we will open our eyes and see Him. I think a lot about that moment. I like to tell Him now what I think I will tell Him then… but who really knows what that moment will be like? But isn’t it wonderful just to think about it?

What will it be like to behold the Lamb, to be in a place where the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is the light thereof (Revelation 21:23), to look on the face of the One who loved me and gave Himself for me (Galatians 2:20)? What a realization it will be when it fully dawns on us how wide and long and high and deep His love really is (Ephesians 3:18)—and when, in that place ringing with joyful worship, we realize that eternity has just begun.

* Hymn by Ira Stanphill

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