Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
I and my Father are one. John 10:28-30

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. Psalm 116:15

For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21

Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words. I Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NIV)

It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting: for that is the end of all men; and the living will lay it to his heart.
Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.
The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. Ecclesiastes 7:2-4

I’ve lost a few brothers and sisters in the Lord recently, and I take great comfort from these passages of scripture. I like the way Pastor Al Runge puts it in his book A Brooklyn Jew Meets Jesus (2001): "I am looking forward to that day when He will come for me. I don’t have to find heaven on my own." (p. 205). Just one question, Chief: Where do atheists go in such a situation? They have to face the same things, and "Imagine there’s no heaven" doesn’t sound very comforting--in fact, the thought leads me to despair (see Francis Schaeffer’s book Escape From Reason (1968) for a solid biblical analysis of such thinking).

While I’m sad that the people I’m thinking about now are no longer with us, I’m glad that they’re now with the Lord. Of those whose recent deaths come to mind, most died of the kind of illness that’s likely to affect many people if they live long enough. Another was a lady who lived her entire life with a serious disability and spent her last few years breathing with the help of a ventilator. She knew how precarious her life was, and asked the Lord to give her a smooth ride when her time came to go; He graciously granted her request. Physical infirmity eventually defeated them on this side of life, but couldn't keep them out of heaven. I miss having these people around on Earth, but I rejoice that they’re in the presence of God, no longer suffering, and awaiting their immortal bodies. I look forward to joining them when the Lord decides that it’s time.