October 6, 2026
— Marion Gormanstad · Source: Adventures on the Tibetan Plateau
John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
In January 1927, in Huangyuan, Qinghai, Marion Gormanstad lost both his beloved son and his cherished wife in succession. Before passing away, his wife used her remaining strength to sing 'Jesus Is Coming to Take Me' and rested peacefully in her husband's arms. Gormanstad admitted that he did not understand, yet he chose not to question. This peace was not numbness, but a deep conviction: the Lord had promised, 'I will come again and will take you to myself.' For believers, death is not being snatched away, but being welcomed home. Today, when I face incomprehensible loss, can I still trust the covenant-keeping Lord amidst my tears?
Lord Jesus, thank You for promising to prepare a place for us and to come back to take us to Yourself. As we experience loss, illness, and unexplainable suffering, grant us a faith like Gormanstad's: able to weep yet never doubting Your goodness, unable to understand yet still surrendering in obedience. Comfort the families who are grieving today, that they may not grieve as those who have no hope. May we follow You faithfully all our days, until the day You come to take us home. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.