In 2018, my seventeen year old son lost a friend to suicide. The teen had fallen away from his former peers that were from good homes and had good plans for their futures. Instead of living in his true God given identity he got pulled into a dark world of drugs and lost souls in need of a savior. This young man was known for his kindness and compassion toward others, but when he was in need of help, he found no one willing to stretch out their hand to pull him back into the light.
He was talked about by his former friends as if he had already passed away once he found himself stuck in a pit of drugs and staying up all night. He no longer went to school with his friends, but was locked away at home becoming more and more isolated from what most people take for granted as a “normal life”.
At the funeral service, the older sister of the teen stood at the podium and lashed out at the youth that were involved in drugs and declared that they were all going to end up like her brother if they didn’t get help. It was terribly harsh and the youth that had been doing drugs were quickly identified by their loud wails of sobbing, so the sister begged them to let her help. She then explained that her brother had needed her and she turned her back on him by convincing herself that she would reconnect with him once he got out of that stage he was going through. She had been frustrated and angry with her brother’s choices, so she blocked him out of her life until he could prove he was on the right track again.
Unfortunately she wasn’t the only one that did that to him. The young man was desperately lost and in need of TRUTH about his true identity and worth.
The pastor asked the guests at the funeral to repeat after him as he led them through the sinners prayer that asks Jesus to become Lord of their lives. So in an instant 300 or so teens asked Jesus to take over their lives and be their Savior. I felt my head being lifted up towards the ceiling and I knew it was the Lord looking at my response to the prayer that I had asked for that young man’s life to have great value and purpose and not be wasted. I could even sense that the teen was standing next to Jesus and the great cloud of witnesses as they were cheering and full of joy at the three hundred lost souls being redeemed that day.
As those teens went back to their homes that day they were changed and there was nothing that could take that away from them now. They were on a highway that leads into the heart of perfect love. The teen that took his life had been a seed that was planted in good soil at a young age in Christ, so when his life here was over, the impact it would have on the world was just beginning. Because he died in Christ, his life was able to reproduce a harvest of righteousness. What looks like the end for many, is simply the beginning for another generation to arise and continue the journey to perfect love.
A pure heart is able to see God working all things together for good and having understanding of what life is really all about and what Jesus did to give us all life, is what is needed to persevere through good times and bad. Nothing is impossible with God, and even death of one life here is able to create an eternity of love and life for generations to come.
I shared what God did that day with the teens mother and she was so overwhelmed with relief in hearing that her sweet boy had been responsible for the Salvation of so many lost lives was the greatest comfort a mother could ask to have that day.
She wasn’t to blame nor were the others in his life, but love had found a better outcome and mercy covered all of the sins of the people that hadn’t shown kindness or love when it was needed.
Although it is vital that we all see and help others, it is also necessary that we receive forgiveness and healing for the wrongs we do each day without being aware because of hardness of hearts.
The next generation is hungry for Truth! Don’t make them beg for the food that leads to eternal life. Teach them to pray and believe in God who is always good to us in Christ Jesus!
Grace, Mercy & Miracles 