When we are more at peace with hell than with the gospel ...

Dear readers,

Yesterday I heard a piece of news that particularly shocked me and prompted me to write this text. I first wrote this text for myself, but I give praise to the Lord if I can encourage many at the same time!

On my way home yesterday, I received a message from a friend telling me that her mom had cancer and that the situation was irreversible. Normally, I would have been saddened by this news, but I would have moved on fairly quickly by telling myself that this is life and that, although it is very sad, these are things that happen ... But not this time. This time a pretty strong feeling of compassion and sadness took hold of my heart. It is true that this friend has been particularly important to me for almost 20 years ... But it went beyond this single friendship. It was God who pierced my heart, who tried to reveal something to me ...

On the road to work, I began to pray about this situation. I prayed to the Lord that this difficult trial in the life of my dear friend might create opportunities for us to speak about the Good News of Jesus [this friend has known for a long time that I am a believer, but we have not unfortunately no heart-to-heart discussion on this subject yet] . During this prayer, my eyes filled with water: I was experiencing compassion, the true one. I was sad that my friend's mom could die like this on the threshold of her sixties, of retirement, leaving behind her husband, two daughters and 18 month old granddaughter. I was panicked by the fact that she would leave this land with perhaps no hope of seeing those she loves again, but especially by the fact that she was leaving for a dark world. A sense of urgency took hold of me and I told myself that I had to go see her, talk to her about the love of God, tell her that it is possible to be at peace with death, to be filled with hope despite the difficult times, to be serene at the idea of ​​leaving this land and all these things and these people that are dear to us.

Then, trying to hold back my tears, I told myself that it was not okay to show up like that in a hospital room, at the bedside of a woman whom I have only seen a few times in my life, the mother of my friend, to ask her if she believed in God, otherwise eternal perdition awaited her. Quietly, I was making room for reason and pride. My well-being and my image became more important than the eternal destiny of this suffering lady who was soon to die. All that compassion I was feeling slowly diminished and gave way to pure selfishness. It is as if I were giving Satan the opportunity to take this soul by saying: "At the risk of offending this dying woman and damaging this friendship that I have for a long time with her daughter, I give you the fight for this soul. , Satan ”. It might sound extreme to you, but that's how I thought about it all the same. In fact, I was ready to let this soul die without even trying anything. Yes, maybe I could have awkwardly hurt that person, but isn't Christ's message more important than all that? Isn't imminent death an urgent need to preach the gospel itself? Between you and me, I know very well that God's plan is perfect and that if God has chosen a person to be his child, he will become so even if we fail in this mission.On the other hand, who says I am not that person God has chosen to deliver His message of love and hope? Would I take the risk of being silent out of simple self-esteem…? Come to think of it ... This news is still very recent and I haven't even been able to see my friend yet. I don't know what the Lord has in store for me. I leave it to him because I can't do anything without him. May the Lord be my strength!

“To him who can do, by the power that works in us, infinitely more than anything we ask or think, to him be the glory in the Church [and] in Jesus Christ, for all generations, forever and ever! Amen! »
- Ephesians 3:20,21

I leave you with an interesting challenge that I found on a website.

Bless you all,

AM xx