Loved ones watching over us
My niece's husband was recently killed in a car accident. She believes in God and heaven, however, she wants to know that her husband can hear her talking to him, and that he is able to guide and give her and her daughter strength from his heavenly home. She does believe that God is the true source of her strength, but is wanting to believe that somehow her husband is also watching over her as well. Do we know from Scripture that this is, or is not, possible?
Allow me to pass along my sympathy to you and your family. Death was never part of God’s design for his creation. Death is an intruder into God’s perfect world. Death is a consequence of sin (Romans 6:23). As Christians, our joy is that by his victory over death Jesus Christ has turned death into the means by which his followers enter the presence of God in heaven. Our joy is in the Bible’s declaration that “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on” (Revelation 14:13).
Scripture does not indicate to us that Christians in heaven are watching over us on earth. Isaiah 63:16 would seem to rule out the saints in heaven watching over the saints on earth. What the Bible does teach is that God watches over us always (Psalm 121) and that God uses his holy angels as part of his providential care of us (Hebrews 1:14).
Your niece sees it correctly—that God “is the true source of her strength.” God has promised never to leave or forsake his followers (Hebrews 13:5). He has promised to strengthen and uphold his children (Isaiah 41:10). He has promised his abiding love (Isaiah 54:10). Through Word and Sacrament God nourishes our faith and strengthens us for godly living.
To you, your niece and your families: “May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word” (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17).