Sitting in the pews of the mortuary chapel, I glanced up and looked at the coffin. To the side of it, was a picture of my cousin Sue: beautiful, vibrant, smiling. Inside the coffin was someone I did not recognize. Her hair was white, her face was wrinkled, her cheeks sunk in, and her body emaciated. Stomach cancer had not only taken her life, but her beauty. I reflected on the temporary nature of our life and asked myself the question, “Will I walk away from this life with any regrets?”

I looked up again and noticed the two people standing beside the coffin, a middle-aged man and a young woman around 20 years old. The older man was embracing the younger woman, both were weeping uncontrollably. I looked into the man’s face and saw sorrow and grief so deep and mournful that it moved me to tears. What would it be like to bury your wife? What would it be like to lose your mother?

There is something that happens to you when you look death in the face. It snaps you out of the mundane routine of life and forces you to reflect on matters of eternal significance, to ask the deep questions of life, to gain perspective.

It was there at the gravesite, as we lowered her into the ground and placed our roses on her coffin that I was reminded of the reason we send missionaries all over the world. I was reminded of the great hope we have in a Savior who was “despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief …” (Isaiah 53:3, ESV). I was drawn again to the One who “has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows …” (Isaiah 53:4–5, ESV). This is the One who has conquered death: ugly, indiscriminate, painful death. His resurrection brings life, health, vitality, hope, and victory over the grave.

What an incredible message of hope we have for those who are experiencing deep loss and sadness. What amazing comfort we have in our times of darkness and disorientation. Jesus, our resurrected King, frees us from fear and enables us to risk boldly for His kingdom. Our life here is so short. When we live it for Him, we will live it with no regrets.