When a non-seeking loved one dies
Last month, when the phone rang at 7 am, we had no idea how that call would change our lives. My husband’s younger brother got in a car accident...
Not a mere fender bender, but the kind of accident that shakes up a small town. Matt hit a tree during the wee hours of the morning and was thrown from his car on a back country road.
And Matt wasn’t driving back from choir practice, either. In spite of all of the prayer and conversations his family had with him, Matt resisted God. He had a bad experience as a teen and hadn’t felt comfortable in the pews since. Matt was kicked out of youth group when he needed God the most.
The first night after the accident, the doctor’s outlook was grim. My husband spent the night with Matt in the hospital room, holding his hand. He prayed and tried to find a Bible passage to make sense of it all. As he read Psalm 23 and prayed, Matt squeezed his hand back. Was that Matt’s way of letting us know that he was finally saying yes to God ? Was it code for the sinner’s prayer?
While the doctors said the hand squeeze was only his body’s reflex, we believe otherwise. We have to believe otherwise.
Within 72 hours, Matt took his final breath.
The next few days were full of painful emotions and unthinkable thoughts. The worse being, where is Matt? Did God give Matt a mulligan? Did Matt accept Christ during His last call? And if Matt didn't make the cut, how could heaven be a happy place for his parents?
While you can’t make it to heaven on someone else’s faith, there are passages in the Bible that can give comfort when you experience the loss of a gospel-resistant loved one. Please post your faves.
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