I can't imagine the pain of losing a child to unspeakable tragedy, such as sickness, accident, violence, suicide or natural catastrophe.
I know people, Christian people, who have suffered such a loss and then coped with it through faith. They still had questions, heartache, and suffered the pains of loss, but they continued in the light and life of Christ. I am not surprised at the grace of God, but such human faithfulness is beyond words.
I know people who are so devastated that they become overwhelmed, defeated by their unspeakable loss. They live as captives to the constant, continuous horror of the past. Their's is a living death.
Their loss is sudden, irreversible, and it may be eternally tragic.
Of course, victoriously dealing with such a trial is a matter of trusting in the wisdom and goodness of God: it is a matter of focusing faith on Jesus.
It is Divine enabling and deliverance.
But there is another living death a Christian parent may go through. It is not as final and as hopeless as physical death, but it constantly looms as a harbinger of total, irretrievable, irreversible, and irredeemable loss. It is watching a child go into drugs, perversion, self-destruction, or fall victim to Satan's seductions and become an unrepentant, unapproachable, and unreachable slave of darkness.
But there is another living death a Christian parent may go through. It is not as final and as hopeless as physical death, but it constantly looms as a harbinger of total, irretrievable, irreversible, and irredeemable loss. It is watching a child go into drugs, perversion, self-destruction, or fall victim to Satan's seductions and become an unrepentant, unapproachable, and unreachable slave of darkness.
The hope is that the wayward child will humble himself, turn his eyes upon Jesus, be reconciled to God and the family of faith. But until they surrender to Christ, they are already lost. They are the living dead.
There are parents who live, constantly reliving the tragedy of having lost a child, and there are parents who live and watch (as in slow motion), a lost child actually being the living dead.
Parents can lovingly cry out, but the warnings go unheeded, and the chasm widens with the self-deceived child.
Yet, the believing parent must trust Jesus fully, even while loved ones are held captive. Pray for the lost loved one. Though they are the living dead, we must have an undying hope.
Keep in mind that a child's rebellion is his own choice. Remember Adam?
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