James 5:13-16
"Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray.
Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises.
Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him.
Therefore confess yours sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much."
My mother gave her life to Christ after years of running from Him and after receiving a fatal diagnosis of stage 4 lung cancer. I was with her when she received the grim news. We talked and cried. It was then that all of the years of seeds became a harvest. We prayed and she gave her life to the Lord. She became born again, renewed. She found peace, finally, that night. This is the look of salvation on my mother's face, knowing that she was going to die and leave this earth. I can honestly say I had never seen this particular look on her face before. She looks happy; almost silly. She's different. There's a peacefulness in her that was not there before.
I don't believe my mother would have been as receptive to me leading her to salvation had I not come to her a few months prior and humbled myself before her. My mother lived a hard life and was difficult to endure at times. She had severe chronic pain for years; it's amazing to me that people can endure pain for so long. None the less, I acknowledged some things to her, face to face.
I thanked my mother for not aborting me. I was a second unwanted pregnancy in this young girl's life. These were facts that I was never supposed to know but somehow, over time, came out. The first pregnancy, or rather the child she was pregnant with before me, was aborted. My mother went to Mexico and had an abortion which left enough of a negative impact on her that she was not willing to do it again when faced with the same circumstance. So she had me.
She and my father married but the marriage didn't last. My mother went through several marriages, looking to fill a place in her heart only God could fill.
I thanked my mother for having me and for giving up her freedom to give me life. I told her that I recognized her sacrifice and I knew it wasn't easy for her. I thanked her for selfless years of raising me. I thanked her for enduring my ungrateful teenage years. My mother cried that day, tears that had been stored up for years. The truth was, she wasn't a very good mom; she didn't know how to be. I thanked her anyway. I was grateful and I meant it.
I don't know why I chose to have that conversation with her. I felt prompted by the Lord and it was almost as if I was listening to myself speak the words I had not planned to say. But I meant them, every word. As a mother, myself, I know the sacrifices a mother makes for her children. Raising my own children has been a huge blessing in my life. Not so, for my mother.
A few months after our conversation, I sat by her side while the doctor told her the news: there was no hope. There was no cure. She wanted me there. We talked and cried. Later that night she prayed the prayer of salvation. For the next few weeks, we prayed, we laughed and talked. One night, we had to close her hospital door because we were laughing so hard about funny things we were seeing on the internet. I saw my mother have peace and a calmness I had not ever seen in her. I am glad to have finally been able to experience moments with her like this.
My mother was sick and suffering and yet she still died. Does it seem like an answered prayer? You bet it does. Her soul was healed. She was made new and forgiven of her sins. There is no greater gift in life than Salvation in Jesus Christ.
Since she was going to heaven first, I asked her to save me a seat right next to her. She said she would.
Thank you, Lord, for saving my undeserving mother. Thank you for giving me the privilege of spending that precious time with her before she left us. And thank you, Lord, for saving me, another undeserving sinner, who is saved by grace and the blood of your sacrifice. Amen.
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