I love seeing faith up close. A while back, I received a kind invitation from the wife of a dying man. She correctly guessed that her husband was getting close to the end of his earthly road, so she invited me into their living room to share some encouragement and offer some prayers.

But I was, by far, more blessed that day. In that living room, I saw their faith up close. Death didn’t scare this man or his bride. While she understandably wondered/worried about life as a widow, neither of them doubted where he was going (heaven) or how he was going to get there (Jesus). In their own words and in their own way, each of them expressed their rock-solid confidence in the Savior who had done everything to give them the hope of eternal life. They embodied the definition from the Scriptures: “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).

Sometimes we miss those up-close glimpses of faith. We forget how the Holy Spirit has connected real souls to a real Savior, defeating our fear of death and planting our feet on promises that cannot be shaken.

You don’t have to wait until your final days to see faith like that. Ask a Christian friend about her hope. Ask your pastor if he fears death. Ask your grandchild if he knows he’ll be with God. You might get a chance to see what I saw that day—the beauty of faith up close.