I hesitated somewhat to post this, but decided to go ahead. This is a sad and sobering post. It is also a request for prayer.
Today my husband will bury another of his brothers. This brother died in his sins. Oh Lord! When will the plague of death be stayed for this family? How long before You turn from Your fierce anger and save members of Tom's family? O Lord, in wrath remember mercy! There are five brothers left, along with their families. Please pray that God will have mercy. Pray for Holy Spirit conviction of sin. Out of all Tom's large family, he is the only one who is saved. He has already lost his father, his only sister and another brother to the judgment of God. We believe his mother is with the Lord, and possibly his step-dad.
Tom's step-dad was raised in a Presbyterian home, with a godly mother who took him faithfully to church every Sunday. I don't know why or how, but he turned away from all that. Tom was about ten or so when Pop married Tom's mother. He was totally antagonistic toward anything to do with religion in any way. After Tom was converted, he refused to allow Tom to read the Bible to him, or to pray with him. Just before he died we think God had mercy and saved him. Tom read to him from the book of John and prayed with him as he lay on his deathbed, and for the first time he wanted to hear the Scriptures read. Later a Christian nurse told how she had talked with him about the Lord, and had prayed with him. She said he also prayed that God would save him. That is our hope.
However, Pop died without ever saying anything to his children about the Lord. The title for this post is a line from a song I once heard on the radio. The song tells the story of a man who is sleeping, and dreams that his child is calling for a drink of water. As he goes to give his child a drink, he realizes that his child is calling to him from the place of torment, asking his father to dip his finger in some water to cool his tongue. I first heard that song during the week that Pop lay dying of cancer. I couldn't help but think of all the knowledge this man had about the Lord and the way of salvation, that he deliberately withheld from his children.
Pray for Tom today, and in the weeks to come, but especially today, that he might be able to speak to his family of the hope that lies within him. Oh, that God would have mercy on this family!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
I'll pray for your husband's family. I know how it is. Much of my family is made up of agnostic atheists. Intelligent by the world's standards, but still without salvation. It's hard to get them to understand that life is a vapor. Does'nt matter what people think of them now, eternity is far more important. Anyway, I will pray. : )
Thank you for sharing this sobering post. I think we as parents need to be reminded that above all, we have been entrusted with an eternal soul! We have a responsibility to teach our children about their need for the Saviour! But I also find great comfort in God's sovereignty at times like this because though our responsibility is great, ultimately, God alone chooses who will come and who will not. There is a confort there for the Christian who has to watch a lost loved one go off into eternity. God alone knows the reasons and will be glorified in even the terrible losses.
I have heard my dad talk many times about losing his dad, knowing that there was no hope for him. It's a hard trial to face, but God's grace is sufficient even in these things. I'll pray that the Lord would give Tom the words to speak that might plant those seeds of the gospel in the hearts of his family.
The sovereignty of God IS a comfort. However, it should never be an excuse for not doing all we can to bring the lost to Christ. Sometimes I wonder if I've really done my part.
Thanks for your prayers.
Post a Comment