"Blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; who according to His great
mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." 1 Peter 1:3 (NASB)
We have just
finished celebrating the resurrection of Christ. Not only does this
give us, who trust Christ as a Savior, the promise of our own resurrection
but also the resurrection of our Christian loved ones who have already
died. This issue of Footprints Ministry is going to focus on Sibling
Grief so I want to tell you about my sister who died in the mid-seventies.
First a little
background: my parents divorced by the time I was a year old. After
much moving around, I wound up with my father in Alabama where he remarried
when I was about 5 years old. He and my stepmother had two children:
Hank and Chris. Because my father liked to party & my stepmother
was an ex-Catholic, they decided none of us children would be allowed to
go to church.
However the
new family in which we found ourselves was matriarchal and the Matriarch
was a member of one of the American cults. I got coerced into joining
them when I was about 10 years old. So I found myself going door
to door, giving religious speeches etc. When I was about 13, I realized
some of their practices were very deceptive and broke away. This
caused great controversy with the Matriarch (whom I loved; she never did
accept Christ to my knowledge), my aunts & the rest of the family -
I became the "black sheep." I decided if this is what having a religion
meant, I wanted no part of it, "God" (if He existed), church etc.
In order to
prevent my cousins, brother & sister from rebelling against the cult,
the family enmeshed them deeply in it. The Matriarch was determined
none of them would escape like I did.
After I left
home and married, my sister, Chris, rebelled against everything: the cult,
parental authority, and school - all of it. In desperation, the family
even sent her to live with my family, but Chris rebelled against me because
I was another authority figure & so I had to send her back home.
To defy everyone,
Chris decided to attend a Baptist church! The message of Christ got
through to her and she accepted Him as Savior. Later she married
a Christian man she met at church and they started a family. Because
of the hard feelings left when I had left the cult, several years went
by before I reestablished contact with the family. When I did, Chris
& her husband tried to encourage us to go to church with them; they
didn't know how to present the gospel to us then. I just laughed
at them, called her husband "Bibleback" etc.
When I was
35 years old. I heard the gospel clearly for the first time & became
a Christian. Chris had become one about 10 years before. After
I understood what being a Christian really meant, I told Chris & her
family of the changes in my life and apologized for the ugly things I had
said. On one of their visits to us in SC, we agreed that the next
Christmas our two families would get together and rejoice in what we shared.
A week later, Chris was dead! At the young age of 29 years, her organs
were those of an old woman. My four kids were stunned when I openly
and uncontrollably sobbed.
I still miss
Chris. But, because of the blessed hope we have because of Christ's
resurrection, I know I'll see Chris again. Whoeeee! (That's
a shout of joy). Can you say the same about your faith? If
you're not sure, why not say a prayer something like this: "Jesus, I know
I'm a sinner. I ask you to forgive me of my sins & become my
Savior." Now you too have the blessed hope!"
Deep calls
to deep in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your waves
and breakers have swept over me.
I say to God
my Rock, why have you forgotten me?
Why must I
go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?
Why are you
so downcast, O my soul?
Why so disturbed
within me?
Put your hope
in God,
for I will
yet praise him, my Savior and my God.
Psalm 42:7.9.11
